**termination with no notice - breach of contract**court case *help needed*

[SueEllen]

Completely disagree with your simplicity - if all business were conducted that way - there would be no business! Contracts are there for a reason! for both parties - business can only operate if there are agreed terms & fairness - if they are ambiguous & unfair business relationships fail - its not something we need! I dont agree with the small-mindedness of 'O well I get paid a good rate' - singular! or maybe you think your conning it so you deserve no rights?

Craig1 stated that he negotiates all his contracts because like me he is aware of the potential problems (which you clearly illustrate) of not doing so.

As a business however small, you don't have the same legal protect as you do as an individual buying a product or service. Therefore the onus is on you to ensure all clauses in your contracts are reasonable to you.

The point everyone is trying to make is even if you win in this court the agency have bigger financial pockets then you. Therefore will appeal to a higher court on the technicality of that clause.

Anyway someone has pointed you to a barrister, John Antell, who frequents these boards. I suggest you get in touch with him and let him review your case. If your case has a good chance of succeeding he is likely to be able to refer you to a solicitor, who can help you.

Edited to say: Off course you can ignore me and waste your money paying a solicitor who can easily rip you off.

[BolshieBastard]

lol. The OP has got to be on a wind up! I've never met such pedantism before.

[KittyCat]

Despite repeated requests the Agency will not supply any proof that the client terminated i.e. I only have their word .. & so does the court ..in over a year they still will not supply evidence that they were / were not paid notice in lieu or that notice was given! There is no PROOF they were not paid or paid in leiu! I dont get it..the jest I'm getting is if your not paid/terminated you accept it all from the agency? without any proof? these agencies must be making a tidy little fortune just by taking the piss! I think the conduct needs to be raised.

[downsouth]

Despite repeated requests the Agency will not supply any proof that the client terminated i.e. I only have their word .. & so does the court ..in over a year they still will not supply evidence that they were / were not paid notice in lieu or that notice was given! There is no PROOF they were not paid or paid in leiu! I dont get it..the jest I'm getting is if your not paid/terminated you accept it all from the agency? without any proof? these agencies must be making a tidy little fortune just by taking the piss! I think the conduct needs to be raised.

and of what concern is it to your company what the contract states between the agent and client, i'll give you a clue, naff all.

Been doing much work in this past year? highly doubt it, nor over the next year if you carry on this personal crusade.

MAN UP and get on with life.

[KittyCat]

They HAVE to give me their complaints proceedure as they are ISO9001 registered - it is a critical path to accreditation .. no matter what happens .. I will register it was not followed with the accreditation body

[cojak]

Well good luck with that.

Let us know if you win your case (though I'm pretty sure you won't be telling us how much it cost you).

[KittyCat]

I'm not afraid

Yes I would be quite happy to bring the client into it - I have absolutely no qualms about exposing unfair practices & quite frankly I'd like the world to see..once disclosure is issued I hope the client is ready to stand up for their unethical practices in court - cant see that tho - this is the stuff they hide & while agencies support this malpractice contractors have no rights - its whats fair at the end of the day - seems as tho you've all been beaten down already! I DO want a judge to uphold. All Companies are governed by law, there are many bodies that govern, if they win - it will have massive consequences - as effectively a contractor is an 'underclass' no rights .. on the other hand if I win - Agencies will need to change the terms & act fairly

[DiscoStu]

Yes I would be quite happy to bring the client into it - I have absolutely no qualms about exposing unfair practices & quite frankly I'd like the world to see..once disclosure is issued I hope the client is ready to stand up for their unethical practices in court - cant see that tho - this is the stuff they hide & while agencies support this malpractice contractors have no rights - its whats fair at the end of the day - seems as tho you've all been beaten down already! I DO want a judge to uphold. All Companies are governed by law, there are many bodies that govern, if they win - it will have massive consequences - as effectively a contractor is an 'underclass' no rights .. on the other hand if I win - Agencies will need to change the terms & act fairly

You're going to piss away loads of cash and lose. Best of luck...

[malvolio]

Read that article - but it does not apply in this case - I can understand if there is no work - but this is not the case - I was told by the agency the client has replaced with another contractor - the basis of the termination that I was responsible for a certain project - I have in black & white that I was'nt & it could never be proved I was? its obvious what occurred - blame the contractor .. as the ones who really screwed it up necks were on the line - I think each case should be dealt with on the facts not just this sweeping 'well thats contracting' it isn't! Most businesses are ethical .. either way I dont think I can lose cos at least then contractors will know where we stand if a precedence is set .. either way.

There may be work, they just don't want you to do it. given your extensive and utterly baseless arguments in this thread, I can't imagine why that should be.

Now go find somewhere else to play, you're getting boring.

[craig1]

Yes I would be quite happy to bring the client into it - I have absolutely no qualms about exposing unfair practices & quite frankly I'd like the world to see..once disclosure is issued I hope the client is ready to stand up for their unethical practices in court - cant see that tho - this is the stuff they hide & while agencies support this malpractice contractors have no rights - its whats fair at the end of the day - seems as tho you've all been beaten down already! I DO want a judge to uphold. All Companies are governed by law, there are many bodies that govern, if they win - it will have massive consequences - as effectively a contractor is an 'underclass' no rights .. on the other hand if I win - Agencies will need to change the terms & act fairly

I can't resist... just one more post...

Unfair != illegal
Unethical != illegal

Especially B2B. If you choose to go into the big bad world of running your own company, you can't start demanding the rights of an individual or employee. Higher earnings through the riskier world of limited liability companies means a higher risk to you.

I have tons of rights. For example, today I sent an extra invoice to my agency for missing their payment date of weekly on Friday. I'll get it as I negotiated it in advance and the agency know it's their fault the payment was late. (Admittedly, it was a contract renegotiation to get that in). I also have the right to refuse to take work, the right to subbie out, the right to work a 5 minute day as long as I get the job done, and so on.

I am certainly not "underclass". I have shown repeatedly that I won't back down without a minimum of mutual compromise in a contractual dispute UP FRONT yet agencies and clients keep asking me back time and time again and I also command a premium on my work from certain niche sectors. I work as an equal with 95%+ of my clients, the other 5% won't see me again after the end date. It's all about reputation, you can be a difficult sod as long as you can prove you're worth the effort.

Also, privity of contract means that any client will send a solicitor to court on the first day and get a wasted costs order against you. They contract with the agency, not you, and unless you can PROVE gross negligence that has materially harmed you outside of your signed-away rights then you've no chance of getting them added to the party list.

I think you're not listening here. SueEllen above gave you a direct recommendation of a name. Can I recommend you either follow that advice or get other credible professional advice? You're running off anger and seem to have been doing so for over a year going by your posts. Even if you got a lottery jackpot result and actually did win, you've already lost because that's a year of anger out of your life.

The best advice I ever got was that if you get messed about is to just say **** 'em and move on. Life is for enjoyment, not anger and retribution.