Cases - Kelner v Baxter

Record details

Name

Kelner v Baxter

Date

(1866)

Citation

LR 2 CP 174

Keywords

Contract administration

Summary

Where a party to a contract professes to be signing as an agent but in fact is not acting for a principal at the time of signing, he is personally liable on the contract. While this case concerned a dispute over the sale of goods, the principle could apply to a construction project where, for instance, a contract administrator who has not yet been appointed by the employer purports to enter into agreements on his behalf. In such a case, the contract administrator risks assuming personal liability to the parties with which he contracts.

However, the employer can subsequently ratify such an unauthorised contract provided it was professedly made on the employer's behalf and provided the employer existed at the time the contract was made.