Case Summaries
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Case Summaries & Related Services
Hanina v Morland – 2000
Example case summary. Last modified: July 16, 2019
The respondent in this case was tenant in a premises in a house, the freeholder of which had granted a 99 year lease of the first……
Dickinson v Abel
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The taxpayer received this money despite not offering any services in relation to the eventual sale….
Day v Savadge
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Day sued Savadge for trespass after the latter took away a bag of nutmegs. Savadge claimed that it was customary in London for people……
Grainger & Son v Gough 1896
Example case summary. Last modified: October 4, 2021
The defendant wine merchant circulated a catalogue which contained a price list for its products. The claimant ordered a number of bottles of wine from the catalogue and, when the defendant refused to deliver these at the stated price, alleged that a contract had been formed….
Doyle v Olby – 1969
Example case summary. Last modified: January 4, 2021
The complainant, Mr Doyle, decided to purchase an Ironmonger’s business from the defendants, Olby (Ironmongers) Ltd. He purchased the business for……
Darlington Futures v Delco – Summary
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The issue in this case was the validity of both the limitation and exclusion clauses, as well as the court’s approach to ambiguity in both types……
Fairclough v Swan Brewery Co Ltd
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The appellant bought a hotel from a vendor who held the hotel under a lease which was due to expire in June 1925. The property was mortgaged……
Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland v Maxwell
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The defendant was a member of the UVF, an organisation carrying out attacks on Roman Catholics by the use firearms and bombs….
Hoenig v Isaacs – 1952
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
The performance of a contract and the right to terminate for repudiatory breach. A contract was concluded for the redecoration of a one-room flat for the lump sum of £750. Upon completion, there remained an outstanding of balance of £350 for the contractor’s work and labour….
Douglas v Hello Ltd
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
The Douglases were a celebrity couple who sold exclusive photography rights of their wedding to OK! Magazine. An unauthorised freelance photographer gained access to the wedding and sold pictures to Hello! Magazine, a rival competitor….
Fagan v Metropolitan Police Commissioner
Example case summary. Last modified: September 28, 2021
Fagan v MPC case summary. Actus reus – assault of policeman – car driven on to policeman’s foot. Fagan was sat in his car when he was approached by a police officer who told him to move the vehicle. …
Darlington BC v Wiltshier Northern
Example case summary. Last modified: October 21, 2021
The agreement between WNL and the finance company stipulated that all rights and causes of action against WNL were assigned to DBC. DBC brought……
Hartley v Ponsonby – (1857)
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
When performance of an existing duty can be consideration.. The defendant, Ponsonby, was captain of a ship on which the plaintiff was a sailor. The sailors contracted to serve on board the ship for a maximum of three years to any ports required until her return to the UK….
Harvey v ADI Ltd
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Harvey (H) refurbished some properties owned by ADI (A). The architects working on behalf of A provided tender documents which were based……
Greig v Insole – 1978
Example case summary. Last modified: December 30, 2020
A private sports promoter entered into contracts with leading cricketers for a series of test matches. The international cricketing governing body (ICC)……
Dutton v Poole Case
Example case summary. Last modified: July 16, 2019
A son made a contract with his father for his father to not cut down an oak woodland. As consideration for this, the son would make a payment……
Gravy Solutions Ltd v Xyzmo Software
Example case summary. Last modified: October 21, 2021
Gravy sought to impose a freezing injunction against a company related to Xyzmo (called Z), after commission Gravy alleged to have earned was not paid and neither was the principal sum….
Dolphin Maritime v Sveriges – Summary
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
The Claimant was a cargo recovery agent and the Defendant was a Swedish P&I Club. The Claimant was engaged by an insurer to recover cargo….
Case Law on Duress by Threats
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
Duress by Threats. The general nature of the defence of duress is that the defendant was forced by someone else to break the law under an immediate threat of serious harm befalling himself or someone else, ie he would not have committed the offence but for the threat. Duress is a defence because…..
Davidge v Bennett – 1984
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The Defendant (D) received cheques from her three flatmates in order to pay for the communal gas bill. Instead, D spent the money on Christmas……
Family Law: Divorce Case Summaries
Example case summary. Last modified: September 7, 2021
Family Law: Divorce. A marriage may come to an end in various ways, the most common of which is still the death of one partner. A decree of nullity in the case of a void marriage is evidence that there was never a valid……
Haynes v Harwood
Example case summary. Last modified: September 29, 2021
The plaintiff was a police constable on duty inside a police station, located in a busy street, often attended by many people, including children. The defendants owned a two-horse van which was left unattended by its driver in the same street. …
Hadley v Baxendale – 1854
Example case summary. Last modified: August 26, 2025
The claimant, Hadley, owned a mill featuring a broken crankshaft. The claimant engaged Baxendale, the defendant, to transport the crankshaft to the location at which it would be repaired and then subsequently transport it back….
H West & Son Ltd v Shepherd – 1963
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The claimant was knocked down by a lorry which was owned by the first defendants and negligently driven by an employee of the second defendant….
Everitt v Martin – Summary
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Everitt parked his car beside Martin on the side of a highway. While walking between the two cars, he tore his coat on a……
General Cleaning Contractors v Christmas [1954] AC 180
Example case summary. Last modified: July 16, 2019
The complainant, Mr Christmas, was a window cleaner who had worked for the defendant, General Cleaning Contractors, for 20 years. He was working on……
Gibson v Manchester City Council – 1979
Example case summary. Last modified: September 27, 2021
The House of Lords held that there was no concluded contract and the defendant was not legally bound to sell the property, as the council’s letter did not state the price and was not an offer but an invitation to treat….
Ferguson v Weaving
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The licensee instructed the waiters to make sure that customers in his public house did not continue to drink intoxicating substances……
Great Eastern Shipping v Far East Chartering
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Far East Chartering (FEC) were contracted by Great Eastern Shipping (GES) to charter one of their ships from Indonesia to India….
Fletcher v Autocar and Transporters
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The claimant, a chartered quantity surveyor, was driving along when a lorry driven by the defendants' employee negligently ran into his car….
Grainger & Son v Gough – 1896
Example case summary. Last modified: July 16, 2019
The defendant wine merchant circulated a catalogue which contained a price list for its products. The claimant ordered a number……
Dodd Properties v Canterbury City Council
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
In 1970, the defendants were building a multi-storey car park near to the complainant’s building. The pile driver they had used had resulted in bad……
Haley v London Electricity Board – 1965
Example case summary. Last modified: October 28, 2021
The defendant’s employees dug a hole in a pavement. When they left the area on their break, they realised that they had not been provided with the necessary materials to fence off the area. …
Byrne and Co v Van Tienhoven
Example case summary. Last modified: October 5, 2021
The defendants wrote a letter, on October 1, to the plaintiffs offering the sale of 1000 boxes of tin plates. The defendant was based in Cardiff and the plaintiff was based in New York, and letters took around 10-11 days to be delivered….
Consideration Case Summaries
Example case summary. Last modified: September 6, 2021
Re McArdle (1951) A wife and her three grown-up children lived together in a house. The wife of one of the children did some decorating and later the children promised to pay her £488 and they signed a document to this effect….
Cook v Square D Ltd
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
The complainant was an electronics engineer that worked for Square D Ltd, a company based in the UK. He worked abroad sometimes and……
BBC v Johns – 1965
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
Here, the claimants, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) sought to submit that they ought be exempt from income tax……
B v C – Surrogacy and Adoption Case Summary
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
B v C [2015] EWFC 17; [2015] 1 F.L.R. 1392; [2015] Fam. Law 533 a Surrogacy and Adoption Case Summary….
Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers – 2004
Example case summary. Last modified: October 1, 2021
The House of Lords held that the correct test to determine whether information was private was to consider whether a reasonable person of ordinary sensibility placed in the same situation as C would find the disclosure of the information offensive….
Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee
Example case summary. Last modified: October 1, 2021
The defendant was the body who employed a doctor who had not given a mentally-ill patient (the claimant) muscle-relaxant drugs nor restrained them prior to giving them electro-convulsive therapy….
Biggs v Hoddinott – Summary
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
The plaintiff (B) was a brewer. The defendants (H) were the owners of a hotel. The plaintiff had a mortgage over the hotel….
Bank of Ireland Home Mortgages v Bell
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
A husband and wife jointly owned a house, which acted as the family home for them and their teenage child. The husband subsequently……
State Bank of India v Sood – Case Summary
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
In this case, the first and second defendants were the legally registered proprietors of the family home, which the third to seventh……
British Westinghouse v Electric Railways
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
Underground Electric Railways (UER) purchased turbines from British Westinghouse Electric Co (BWEC). The turbines were faulty in that they were……
Burma Oil Company v Lord Advocate – Case Summary
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The claimant, Burma Oil Company, brought proceedings against the UK government (who were represented in the case by the Lord Advocate)……
CIBC Mortgages Plc v Pitt – 1994
Example case summary. Last modified: June 17, 2019
The Pitts were husband and wife. The husband, putting her under pressure, convinced his wife to take out a loan on the security of their matrimonial……
Barton v County Natwest Bank – 1999
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The plaintiff, County Natwest Ltd (CN), loaned money to a company of which Barton (B) was an officer and guaranteed the value of the loan….
Barclays Bank v Alcorn
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
The defendant had argued that the charge did not cover a separate building on the property known as “The Cottage.” The defendant refused to give up……
CCSU v Minister for the Civil Service
Example case summary. Last modified: September 28, 2021
In the 1980’s, with the United Kingdom under the Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher, it was ruled that any and all employees of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) were prohibited from joining any trade union….
Brimelow v Casson
Example case summary. Last modified: June 14, 2019
Brimelow was a theatrical manager and Casson was a member of the Joint Protection Committee, effectively a trade union of sorts….
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