What is a Section 278 Agreement?

A Section 278 Agreement is a legal agreement between a developer and a highway authority to carry out highway works.

Solicitor Claims Unpaid Commission | Wollens Solicitors Devon

In a case of ‘you can’t blame a guy for trying’, in the recent case of Saul v Rashbrook, a solicitor put forward a rather far-fetched claim for unpaid commission. The whole concept of commission is rooted in the idea that a person receives a ‘cut’ of the value of sales that they have secured for the business. Mr Rashbrook’s contract said he would earn commission on work he carried out once he had billed more than three times his salary. He claimed that he had been underpaid commission as his employer had not taken account of the work that other people had done on his files when working out if he had reached the three times annual salary threshold. The Employment Appeal Tribunal held:

Contract clauses should be construed neutrally and given their natural and ordinary meaning.
The clause clearly said commission was only due for “work carried out by the Employee” as a solicitor.
This meant that only work done by Mr Rashbrook himself counted toward the commission threshold.
Once the fees for work done by others were removed, he hadn’t met the required threshold of three times his salary.

Mr Rashbrook’s claim was, unsurprisingly, dismissed.