Commercial Law

15 July 202418 July 2024

Agency: Law and Principles

Agency: Law and Principles by Roderick Munday
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Edition: 4th Edition (February 2022)
ISBN: 978-0-19285619-7
Price: £135.00
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For any commercial practitioner, the concept of agency is never far away. For example, many businesses operate using commercial agents (which is highly regulated) or have third parties selling goods for them. There may also be ad hoc agency arrangements, or more formalised agency relationships. There can also be ‘agency’ relationships (in a broader sense) which impose particular duties (for example, a fiduciary duty or some other duty of disclosure or information). Agency: Law and Principles brings together all of those concepts into a practical and accessible account of the law.

Agency: Law and Principles is split into thirteen chapters: the nature of agency; creation of agency; the actual authority of the agent; apparent authority; authority deriving from agency of necessity; ratification; the agent’s liability for breach of warranty of authority; legal relations between principal and agent: duties the agent owes to his principal; legal relations between principal and agent: rights of the agent against the principal; legal relations between principal and agent; the tortious liabilities of principal and agent; legal relations between agent and third party; and termination of agency. Each chapter is sub-divided into a series of short and clear paragraphs.

I have been a fan of Agency: Law and Principles for a number of years. This new edition has impressively and seamlessly incorporated of a significant amount of new material. For example, it considers the implications of the European Withdrawal Act 2018 on the English Court’s interpretation of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993. It also considers the important distinction between agents, employees and independent contractors: a topic which led to the UK Supreme Court’s decisions in Various Claimants v Catholic Child Welfare Society [2012] 3 WLR 1319 and, more recently, the decisions in WM Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants [2020] AC 989 and Barclays Bank plc v Various Claimants [2020] AC 989.

For anyone dealing with the knotty topic of agency law, Roderick Munday’s Agency: Law and Principles provides a clean and accessible account of the law. It covers a wide range of topics including commercial agents under the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993, statutory agents under the Factors Act 1889 and more general agency relationships. Its layout is also clear and accessible; allowing the reader to quickly find the relevant passages. The footnotes also provide a great starting point for further research on more nuanced issues.

Reviewed on 15 July 2024

24 December 201511 June 2020

Blackstone’s Statutes on Commercial & Consumer Law 2015-2016

It has been over fifteen years since I first started to use Blackstone’s Statutes on Commercial & Consumer Law. Since using an edition back in the late 1990s, it has grown in size (consistent with the increase in statutory provisions on commercial and consumer law). However, some things have remained unchanged. These include the editor, Francis Rose, who continues to expertly select just the right amount of material for students and busy practitioners. It also includes the clear and up to date layout. If you are studying commercial or consumer law, or a practising lawyer, Blackstone’s Statutes on Commercial & Consumer Law 2015-2016 is a text for you.

Blackstone’s Statutes on Commercial & Consumer Law 2015-2016 is split into four parts: statutes; statutory instruments; EU materials; and codes. Each part includes a vast selection of material. For example, the first part on statutes includes extracts from the following Acts: the Factors Act 1889, the Hire-Purchase Act 1964, the Misrepresentation Act 1967, the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973, the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the Companies Act 2006 and (importantly) the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The second part on statutory instruments includes: the General Product Safety Regulations 2005, the Payment Services Regulations 2009 and the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

The impressive feature of Blackstone’s Statutes on Commercial & Consumer Law 2015-2016 is the breadth of material it covers. There is, to be fair to Professor Rose, enough material on either commercial law or consumer law alone to occupy its own Statute Book. However, Professor Rose has managed to select just the right amount of material for everyday use. While there will be times when the reader has to consult the full legislative provision, Blackstone’s Statutes on Commercial & Consumer Law 2015-2016 includes most of the key provisions. This is some accomplishment in a fast moving areas of law like commercial or consumer law.

If you are looking for a text containing all of the key relevant provisions on commercial and consumer law, you should look no further than Blackstone’s Statutes on Commercial & Consumer Law 2015-2016. At just under £17, it also provides excellent value for money. The layout is clear and crisp; exactly what is needed when you are in exam conditions or at Court being asked direct questions by a judge. If you have any interest in consumer or commercial law, Blackstone’s Statutes on Commercial & Consumer Law 2015-2016 will form a valuable part of your personal library.

Reviewed on 24 December 2015

28 March 201511 June 2020

Business Law

While it is primarily designed for undergraduate students on business courses, Business Law aims to offer a comprehensive coverage of all of the key aspects of business law in a straight-forward manner which is easy to understand for business students. This is, of course, an ambitious aim given the vast areas of law which many businesses deal with on a day to day basis. However, and to a large extent (subject to some of the errors discussed later), it broadly achieves that aim. What Business Law also demonstrates is just how important a working knowledge of the law is for anyone in business: if you do not know the basics, you can often be exposed to significant business risks.

Written by a team of experienced law teachers, with particular expertise in a business law environment, Business Law is split into five parts: law, legal sources and dispute resolution; business transactions; business liability; business organisation; and employment law and health and safety. This is expanded from the first edition and shows the increased focus on issues like health and safety law (which pose important civil and criminal risks). Each part is split into a number of chapters. For example, the part on business organisations has chapters on: agency; partnership law; and company law. The part on business transactions has chapters on: contract; and sale of goods and supply of services. It is, however, somewhat surprising that there is still no coverage of intellectual property or advertising law.

Because Business Law is aimed at law and business students, and covers so many different areas of law, it does not attempt to cover the topics in significant detail. Instead, it largely provides a clear and concise consideration of the various areas of law. It is, however, disappointing that there continues to be some key errors and omissions. For example, when consider the (now repealed) Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, the authors suggests there is no right to cancel a distance contract where the goods have been used. Firstly, this is wrong and contrary to former OFT Guidance. Secondly, these regulations were replaced on 13 June 2014 by the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (which are not mentioned at all; despite those regulations being made on 11 December 2013). There is also reference to the Consumer Transactions (Restrictions on Statements) Order 1976 creating a criminal offence. This is also wrong; it was repealed on 26 May 2008.

This second edition of Business Law will be a good companion for anyone studying law as part of a business course (particularly those at undergraduate level). It comes with a very useful companion website (available from: http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/kelly-9780415559737/). By the time of this review, there are a number of resources including multiple choice questions, cases studies and weblinks. The errors did, however, undermine my confidence somewhat in the rest of the text (and particularly because one of the errors was raised in our review of the first edition). It is therefore a useful companion but should be used with some caution. If, however, these errors are resolved for future editions, there is no doubt that Business Law will continue to be an important text for business students for years to come. When combined with the companion website, it is also well priced.

Reviewed on 28 March 2015

25 May 201411 June 2020

This eighth edition of Commercial Law by Paul Dobson and Rob Stokes (it is, in fact, only the second edition under the title ‘Commercial Law‘; the first six were published under the title ‘Sale of Goods and Consumer Credit‘) is an extremely welcome addition to the relatively few textbooks covering consumer and commercial law. It has been updated to include the latest developments in the law including the Supreme Court’s decision in Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National plc & Others [2009] UKSC 6 and the emerging case-law dealing with the implementation of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. These revisions are seamlessly incorporated and Commercial Law continues to be indispensable reading for any commercial or consumer lawyer.

The change in the textbook’s title for the seventh edition, from Sale of Goods and Consumer Credit to Commercial Law, was partly driven by the introduction of a new section on agency law. This latest edition of Commercial Law continues to be split into three parts: sale of goods; consumer credit; and agency. It is fairly rare for academic textbooks to have significant coverage of consumer credit law. While some recent commercial law textbooks have devoted a chapter or so to this topic, the only textbook providing significant coverage for less than £100 is Consumer Credit: Law, Practice and Precedents. This is therefore a significant advantage over competing texts (particularly given the significant attention that consumer credit is currently receiving).

Commercial Law is very well-written. It deals with some rather complicated topics in a straight-forward and practical way. It strikes a fine balance between explaining the essentials without ‘bogging-down’ the reader in technical detail: this is a wonderful achievement (particularly for a text dealing with notoriously complicated subjects like sales of goods, consumer credit and agency). The text is also well laid out: the reader can quickly distinguish between text, headings and materials. The list of further reading (while fairly limited) provides some useful sources of further material for those looking to consider some of the points in more detail.

If you are looking for an excellent overview of sale of goods, consumer credit and agency law, you should seriously consider Commercial Law: it provides a fantastic introduction to these topics. The key principles are explained a simple and logical way allowing them to be quickly understood by both experienced and inexperienced commercial lawyers. If future editions include a more detailed list of further reading, it will provide a more comprehensive source on commercial law. This is, however, a minor issue in an otherwise excellent text. Its price, at just over £30, also means that it is fantastic value for money compared to its competitors. I have no doubt that it will continue to be a well-regarded text for years to come.

Reviewed on 25 May 2014

28 December 201211 June 2020

A-Z Guide to Boilerplate and Commercial Clauses

Being creatures of habit, lawyers typically include standard clauses in commercial contracts simply because they have been using them for a number of years. This is not, however, the correct approach: when drafting any agreement, the draftsman should always ensure that the clause is clear, necessary and accurately reflects the parties’ intentions. To help with this task is the popular A-Z Guide to Boilerplate and Commercial Clauses. This provides an excellent and practical guide to the nature and effect of those standard and common terms which appear in commercial contracts. It also explains the interpretation and effect of such clauses.

Written by two experienced commercial lawyers, A-Z Guide to Boilerplate and Commercial Clauses provides an extremely clear explanation of a the important commercial clauses. Many commercial lawyers will welcome the excellent sample precedents which are (predominantly) written in plain English. By doing so, it encourages the reader to actually spend time considering how the clause works and how a third party would interpret it (which is extremely important). Such an approach, which is encouraged by this text, should reduce the risk of later disputes. Even a brief review of case-law will show that there are a substantial number of disputes concerning the interpretation or effect of terms and conditions.

A-Z Guide to Boilerplate and Commercial Clauses is (unsurprisingly) divided into alphabetical order. Each clause considers some standard wording, alternatives and the effect of those clauses. Where appropriate, the authors importantly consider the case law explaining how the courts have interpreted similar clauses and guidance issued by regulators. This is fundamental for both contentious and non-contentious lawyers and certainly saves considerable time which may otherwise be lost in a law library. It also comes with a CD-ROM. This includes the precedent clauses allowing the reader to copy and paste them into their commercial document. This will, without doubt, save time for the busy practitioner.

A-Z Guide to Boilerplate and Commercial Clauses impressively explains the key commercial clauses and their effect. It also has an excellent overview of the important legislative provisions and case law giving both experienced and inexperienced practitioner an excellent starting point for further research. It is one of the best, if not the best, guides to commercial and boilerplate clauses and should be close at hand for any commercial practitioner. The CD-ROM is an excellent idea and allows practitioners who are not always in the office to still have the benefit of this text.

Reviewed on 28 December 2012