Hand & Jeffries

In *Hand & Jeffries*, the Supreme Court of Queensland considered a dispute between Hand & Jeffries (the applicant) and the respondent, concerning the applicant's entitlement to a commission under a contract of sale. The applicant, a real estate agent, sought to recover a commission allegedly earned by introducing a ready, willing, and able purchaser to the vendor. The core of the dispute revolved around whether the applicant had fulfilled the contractual conditions precedent to the payment of commission.

The central legal issue before Strickland J was whether the applicant had successfully introduced a purchaser who was both ready, willing, and able to complete the purchase of the property in accordance with the terms of the contract of sale. This required the court to interpret the specific clauses of the agency agreement and the contract of sale, particularly those relating to the purchaser's obligations and the agent's entitlement to commission upon the exchange of contracts.

Strickland J reasoned that the applicant's entitlement to commission was contingent upon the exchange of contracts, and that the purchaser introduced by the applicant had indeed entered into a binding contract for the sale of the property. His Honour found that the purchaser was ready, willing, and able to complete the purchase as stipulated in the agreement. The court applied the principles of contract law, focusing on the interpretation of contractual terms and the conditions precedent to the payment of a commission.

The court ordered that the applicant was entitled to the commission claimed.