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willing to sign a contract to purchase, but the vendor
refused to execute the contract for reasons of his
own.
It was held that " a purchaser who is able
and willing to complete the transaction" meant
a person who was willing to sign a contract to pur
chase it at the seller's price, and that the fact that the
purchase did not go through did not deprive the
agents of their right to commission.
In another
recent, case Reed Ltd.
v.
Nicholls (1948 2 All E.R.
914), the contract was differently worded. The
vendor instructed the agents to procure a person
able, ready and willing to purchase at £2,900 or
near offer, and undertook to pay them commission
on the introduction of such a person making a firm
offer to purchase at the price required. The agents
secured an offer of £2,800, from a prospective
purchaser who was willing to put down a deposit
of £20.
The vendor refused to sign the contract.
It was held that £2,800 was a " near offer " and that
ability to purchase did not mean that the prospective
purchaser must have the whole purchase money
available at the date of the offer, but that it was
sufficient if the agents could show that he would
have found the balance of the purchase price at
the proper time. These cases show that it is of
equal importance for house-agents to draw up their
agency agreements with care, as it is for their prin
cipals to scrutinise them carefully before signing
them, if misunderstandings and possible litigation
are to be avoided.
House agents' authority
IN the recent case of Wragg
v.
Lovett (1948 2 All
E.R. 968) the question to be decided was whether
on a particular set of facts a firm of estate agents
had authority to bind the defendant on a contract
for the sale of a house which they purported to sign
on his behalf.
In the course of his judgment Lord
Greene M.R. said " while accepting the learned
judge's conclusion upon the particular facts of this
case, we must not be understood as suggesting that
when a vendor merely authorises a house agent to
sell at a stated price he must be taken to be author
ising the agent to do more than agree with an intend
ing purchaser the essential (and, generally,
the
most essential) term, i.e. the price. The making of
a contract is no part of an estate agent's business,
and, although, on the facts of an individual case,
the person who employs him may authorise him to
make a contract, such an authorisation is not lightly
to be inferred from vague or ambiguous language."
Notaries Public
THE Second Reading of the Solicitors, Public
Notaries, etc., Bill took place on 20th January.
Sir Hartley Shawcross introduced this as a " very
dull little Bill" and then proceeded, in explaining
its provisions, to give an interesting review of several
ancient legal offices. The Bill's main purpose is to
abolish stamp duty on practising certificates taken
out by solicitors. These certificates, he said, could
be refused to a solicitor for some disciplinary reason
or " where during the past year—and this is a risk
to which members of my profession are particularly
exposed—he has been made bankrupt or driven
mad." He explained that the relief was a
quid pro
quo
for the additional burdens placed on solicitors
of contributions to the Compensation Fund, imposed
in 1941, and of employing accountants, imposed
in 1947.
The Bill also repeals a number of statutory pro
visions dealing with those whose practice in the
law was distinguished by some form of specialised
title.
" Conveyancers " (i.e., those persons who,
being neither barristers nor solicitors, formerly
employed themselves solely in drafting deeds) had
ceased to exist as a separate profession, and hence
the Bill abolished their statutory privileges. " Special
Pleaders " (i.e., those barristers who devoted them
selves mainly to drafting common law pleadings
and appearing in chambers on procedural matters)
would also lose their privileges—though the name
would remain as a term of abuse, no doubt. The
like fate was also to befall " Draftsmen in Equity "
who were special pleaders dealing in Chancery
matters.
Finally,
the Bill abolished
the necessity
for
notaries public to take out special practising certi
ficates as such. These, he said, were, by definition,
officers who " took note of anything which might
concern the public," but their functions were in fact
rather more specialised than that. They were the
original " scribes " of the Roman Law and were
originally appointed by the Pope, but now, under
an Act of Henry VIII, by the Court of Faculties
presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The profession has 523 members of whom 500 are
solicitors. Their main task is to prepare deeds and
legal and commercial documents for use abroad in
conformity with foreign law. They also translate
legal documents from and into the terms of Foreign
legal systems.
In the Middle Ages their badge was
an ink-horn and pen-case suspended by a silken
cord, which led Cave to say of one such : " Away
with him, I say. Hang him with his pen and ink-
horn round his neck."
(The Solicitors' Journal.}
OBITUARY
MR, JAMES SHUEL, Solicitor, died at his residence
" Kencraigie," Cahirciveen, Co. Kerry, on 2nd
March, 1949.