Firbank’s Executors v Humphryes: CA 1886

The plaintiff was induced to enter into a transaction by the someone pretending to be the principal. The defence was that he was the principal’s innocent agent.
Held: Lord Esher MR discussed the warranty of authority: ‘The rule to be deduced is, that where a person by asserting that he has the authority of the principle induces another to enter into any transaction which he would not have entered into but for that assertion, and that assertion turns out to be untrue, to the injury of the person to whom it is made, it must be taken that the person making it undertook that it was true, and he is liable personally for the damage that has occurred.’

Judges:

Lord Esher MR

Citations:

(1886) 18 QBD 54

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedA and J Fabrications (Batley) Ltd v Grant Thornton and Others ChD 1998
The plaintiffs, the majority creditors of a company in liquidation, alleged that they had agreed with Grant Thornton, the defendants, to support the appointment of one of the firm’s partners or employees as liquidator of the company, with a view to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Agency

Updated: 11 June 2022; Ref: scu.261593