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Bell V. Lever Brothers Ltd.
''Bell v Lever Brothers Ltd'' 931UKHL 2is an English contract law case decided by the House of Lords. Within the field of Mistake in English contract law, mistake in English law, it holds that common mistake does not lead to a void contract unless the mistake is fundamental to the identity of the contract. Facts Lever Brothers Ltd (which merged in 1930 to become Unilever) was a company which traded in West Africa, through a 99% owned subsidiary called the Niger Company (formerly the Royal Niger Company). The Niger trade was in trouble. Lord Leverhulme, the owner of Lever Bros, hired D'Arcy Cooper (a Quaker and senior partner of his uncle's accountant firm, Cooper Brothers) to be the chairman and manage the crisis. Cooper negotiated a loan from Barclays Bank, which insisted that a professional management run the Niger subsidiary. Cooper hired his friend, Ernest Hyslop Bell, a senior Barclays manager in 1923 as chairman of the subsidiary. Mr Snelling, a tax consultant that had s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unilever House
Unilever House is a Grade II listed office building in the Neoclassical Art Deco style, located on New Bridge Street, Victoria Embankment in Blackfriars, London. The building has a tall, curving frontage which overlooks Blackfriars Bridge on the north bank of the River Thames. The site of Unilever House was previously occupied by Bridewell Palace, a residence of Henry VIII, which later became a poorhouse and prison. These buildings were destroyed in 1864 making way for De Keyser's Royal Hotel. In 1920, Lord Leverhulme leased the site to build the London headquarters of his soap manufacturing company Lever Brothers, which became Unilever in 1930. Construction did not commence until 1929. Design and construction The design was a collaboration between James Lomax-Simpson, the Unilever company architect and a member of its board, and John James Burnet and Thomas S. Tait, partners in the firm of Sir John Burnet and Partners. However, there has been much confusion over the rela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Parachute
A golden parachute is an agreement between a company and an employee (usually an upper executive) specifying that the employee will receive certain significant benefits if employment is terminated. These may include severance pay, cash bonuses, stock options, or other benefits. Most definitions specify the employment termination is as a result of a merger or takeover,golden parachute ". ''InvestorWords''LL. WebFinance.golden parachute . ''''. |
UK Competition Law
United Kingdom competition law is affected by both British and European elements. The Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002 are the most important statutes for cases with a purely national dimension. However, if the effect of a business' conduct would reach across borders, the European Commission has competence to deal with the problems, and exclusively EU law would apply. Even so, the section 60 of the Competition Act 1998 provides that UK rules are to be applied in line with European jurisprudence. Like all competition law, that in the UK has three main tasks. * prohibiting agreements or practices that restrict free trading and competition between business entities. This includes in particular the repression of cartels. * banning abusive behaviour by a firm dominating a market, or anti-competitive practices that tend to lead to such a dominant position. Practices controlled in this way may include predatory pricing, tying, price gouging, refusal to deal and many othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UK Company Law
The United Kingdom company law regulates corporations formed under the Companies Act 2006. Also governed by the Insolvency Act 1986, the UK Corporate Governance Code, European Union Directives and court cases, the company is the primary legal vehicle to organise and run business. Tracing their modern history to the late Industrial Revolution, public companies now employ more people and generate more of wealth in the United Kingdom economy than any other form of organisation. The United Kingdom was the first country to draft modern corporation statutes, where through a simple registration procedure any investors could incorporate, limit liability to their commercial creditors in the event of business insolvency, and where management was delegated to a centralised board of directors. An influential model within Europe, the Commonwealth and as an international standard setter, UK law has always given people broad freedom to design the internal company rules, so long as the mandat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unfair Prejudice
Unfair prejudice in United Kingdom, company law is a statutory form of action that may be brought by aggrieved shareholders against their company. Under the Companies Act 2006 the relevant provision is s 994, the identical successor to s 459 Companies Act 1985. Unfair prejudice actions have generated an enormous body of cases, many of which are called "Re A Company", with only a six-digit number and report citation to distinguish them. They have become a substitute for the more restrictive conditions on a "derivative action", as an exception to the rule in ''Foss v Harbottle''. Though not restricted in such a way, unfair prejudice claims are primarily brought in smaller, non-public companies. This is the text from the Act. Four main issues arise out of the interpretation of s.994. First of all, who has a right to complain against whom? Secondly, what specifically does the "company's affairs" mean in s.994(1)(a)? Thirdly, when is something "unfair" and at the same time "prejudici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd V Meyer
''Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd v Meyer'' 959AC 324 is a UK company law case, concerning the predecessor of the unfair prejudice provision, an action for "oppression" under section 210 of the Companies Act 1948 (now section 994 of the Companies Act 2006). The judgement remains a leading precedent for the clear statement that the duty of care of a director is to the company itself, and not to the interests of particular shareholders. It also illustrates the reluctance of English law to "admit the reality of interrelated companies acting in any way other than as a number of separate entities tied together by their relationship as significant shareholders in each other."Dine, 32, and passim Facts The Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd. set up a new company called "Scottish Textile & Manufacturing Co Ltd" with Dr Meyer and Mr Lucas. They manufactured rayon cloth. Back then, one required state licensing and to get a license experienced managers were needed. Dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Peace Shipping Ltd V Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd
''Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris (International) Ltd'' [2002EWCA Civ 1407(also known as ''The Great Peace'') is a case on English contract law and on maritime salvage. It investigates when a Mistake (contract law)#Common mistake, common mistake within a contractual agreement will render it void. It is notable for its Mechanisms of the English common law, "disapproval" of '' Solle v Butcher'', a 1950 Court of Appeal case in which Lord Denning had established a doctrine of "equitable mistake". ''Great Peace'' ruled that the thinking underlying ''Solle v. Butcher'' "could not stand in the face of the earlier decision of the House of Lords in '' Bell v. Lever Bros.''".Martin-Clark, D.'Great Peace' accessed 21 March 2023 Facts The defendants, Tsavliris, were professional salvors in the business of maritime salvage and rendering aid to ships in difficulty in the South Indian Ocean. Learning that a vessel named ''Cape Providence'' was in trouble, Tsavliris entered into a salv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voidable
Voidable, in law, is a transaction or action that is valid but may be annulled by one of the parties to the transaction. Voidable is usually used in distinction to void ''ab initio'' (or void from the outset) and unenforceable. Definition The act of invalidating the contract by the party exercising its rights to annul the voidable contract is usually referred to either as ''voiding'' the contract (in the United States and Canada) or ''avoiding'' the contract (in the United Kingdom, Australia and other common law countries). '' Black's Law Dictionary'' (relevant to US law) defines voidable as follows: Right to rescind Generally speaking, one party will have the right to elect whether to annul the transaction or to affirm it. The avoiding of a voidable transaction amounts to the rescinding it or exercising a power of rescission and as such, it is subject to the general law in that regard. The right to rescind can be lost. In common law, there are generally said to be four "bar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equitable Remedy
Equitable remedies are judicial remedies developed by courts of equity from about the time of Henry VIII to provide more flexible responses to changing social conditions than was possible in precedent-based common law. Equitable remedies were granted by the Court of Chancery in England, and remain available today in most common law jurisdictions. In many jurisdictions, legal and equitable remedies have been merged and a single court can issue either, or both, remedies. Despite widespread judicial merger, the distinction between equitable and legal remedies remains relevant in a number of significant instances. Notably, the United States Constitution's Seventh Amendment preserves the right to a jury trial in civil cases over $20 to cases "at common law". Equity is said to operate on the conscience of the defendant, so an equitable remedy is always directed at a particular person, and that person's knowledge, state of mind and motives may be relevant to whether a remedy should be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solle V Butcher
''Solle v Butcher'' 9501 KB 671 is an English contract law case, concerning the right to have a contract declared voidable in equity. Denning LJ reaffirmed a class of "equitable mistakes" in his judgment, which enabled a claimant to avoid a contract. Denning LJ said, This would have essentially recognised a wider application of a duty of disclosure in most cases, triggered by actual knowledge of one party that another party was mistaken about terms. The case was doubted by a subsequent Court of Appeal case, '' The Great Peace''. Facts Mr Charles Butcher, the landlord, had leased a flat in Maywood House, Beckenham, to Mr Godfrey Solle, the tenant, at £250 a year, both parties believing that the Rent Acts did not apply to the property. Mr Solle later claimed that he should be repaid money over the regulated rent for the flat. Mr Butcher counterclaimed that their contract should be void because both were mistaken about rent regulation applying. The Increase of Rent and Mortga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Denning
Alfred Thompson "Tom" Denning, Baron Denning (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999) was an English lawyer and judge. He was called to the bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 when he was appointed to the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, and transferred to the King's Bench Division in 1945. He was made a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1948 after less than five years in the High Court. He became a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in 1957 and after five years in the House of Lords returned to the Court of Appeal as Master of the Rolls in 1962, a position he held for twenty years. In retirement he wrote several books and continued to offer opinions on the state of the common law through his writing and his position in the House of Lords. Margaret Thatcher said that Denning was "probably the greatest English judge of modern times". Denning's appellate work in the Court of Appeal did not con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Void (law)
In law, void means of no legal effect. An action, document, or transaction which is void is of no legal effect whatsoever: an absolute nullity—the law treats it as if it had never existed or happened. The term void ''ab initio'', which means "to be treated as invalid from the outset", comes from adding the Latin phrase ''ab initio'' (from the beginning) as a qualifier. For example, in many jurisdictions where a person signs a contract under duress, that contract is treated as being void ''ab initio''. The frequent combination "null and void" is a legal doublet. The term is frequently used in contradistinction to the term "voidable" and "unenforceable". Definitions '' Black's Law Dictionary'' defines 'void' as: In the case of a contract, this means there is no legal obligation, therefore there can be no breach of contract since the contract is null, but there may be an implied contract which requires the recipient of goods or services provided to pay their reasonable val ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
