Cases - Chaskill Ltd v Marina Developments Ltd

Record details

Name

Chaskill Ltd v Marina Developments Ltd

Date

[1988]

Citation

2 EGLR 241

Keywords

Estate agency

Summary

The plaintiffs claimed £15,000 commission for introducing the defendants to a company developing a marina. No specific fee had been agreed, so the judge awarded 'reasonable fees' for the introduction (it was not based on quantum meruit). In determining the fees, the judge did not accept that the plaintiffs should be compensated for the commercial opportunity they afforded to the defendants.

Instead, he valued the claim on the basis of time properly spent in effecting the introduction. On the evidence the plaintiffs had spent 8.5 hours on the matter and he awarded them £150 per hour, bearing in mind the nature and complexity of the work. Nothing was awarded in respect of work done after the introduction had been effected, as the contract was confined to introducing the defendants. Nothing was awarded for any preparatory work carried out by the plaintiffs in informing themselves in order that they were properly equipped to interest the defendants, for that was nothing to do with the defendants. The total came to £2,325.