The English case Hadley v Baxendale, which established the fundamental rules governing contractual remoteness in common law countries, seems quintessentially British, an offshoot of the English Industrial Revolution. Hadley’s mill crankshaft broke, and Baxendale agreed to courier it so the crankshaft could be cast and a new one made. The crankshaft was returned later than Hadley stipulated, and Hadley claimed a loss of profits from the mill arising from the late return. Baron Alderson outlined the two ‘limbs’ of Hadley v Baxendale, which required the loss to be either natural and usual, or, if the loss involved special circumstances, for those circumstances to be communicated to the defendant at the time of making the contract … (more)
[Katy Barnett, BACL, 27 January 2023]
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