header-logo header-logo

Rock: clarity on contracts?

15 June 2018 / Sally Anne Blackmore , Clifford Darton , Samantha Dawkins
Issue: 7797 / Categories: Features , Commercial
printer mail-detail
nlj_7797_blackmore

An exceptional appeal; a purist’s outcome. Lessons from MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd v Rock Advertising Ltd by Clifford Darton, Sally Anne Blackmore & Samantha Dawkins

  • On 16 May 2018, the Supreme Court decided that the law should and does give effect to no oral modification clauses.
  • This reversed the decision in the Court of Appeal and sounded the death knell for a line of authority suggesting that oral modification was possible notwithstanding the presence of a no oral modification clause in a contract.
  • This article considers the decision in context and asks why the Court of Appeal went wrong on so fundamental an issue.

MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd (MWB) operates serviced offices in central London (see also MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd v Rock Advertising Ltd [2018] UKSC 24, [2018] ALL ER (D) 81 (May). On 12 August 2011, Rock Advertising Ltd (Rock) entered into a contractual licence with MWB to occupy office space for twelve months commencing on 1 November 2011 at a fee of £3,500

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
back-to-top-scroll