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ARTICLE · 05 MARCH 2024

When Is A Deed Not A Deed?

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The English courts have continued their slow-burning development of the law around valid execution of deeds in a judgment handed down in the High Court case...

United KingdomCorporate/Commercial Law
Gregory Nash
Gregory Nash

The English courts have continued their slow-burning development of the law around valid execution of deeds in a judgment handed down in the High Court case Lendlease Construction (Europe) Ltd v Aecom Ltd [2023] EWHC 2620 (TCC).

The law of deeds is one particularly close to many a transactional lawyer's heart, as anyone who regularly deals with the execution of deeds as part of a deal process will testify. Over the years a number of cases have produced principles on this subject, with the 2008 Mercury Tax Group case in particular resulting in a tightening of the rules regarding the practice around the execution of deeds via the exchange of signature pages.

The Lendlease case centred around a consultancy agreement, purportedly signed as a deed, regarding a construction project pursuant to which the defendant, Aecom, provided services to a major hospital development in Leeds. Key to the claimant's case against Aecom was the ability to bring a claim within

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