Recieved a small claim form a previous client. Can anyone advise please!!!

[asp1]

Hi all,

First timer here. I received a small claims form last week for breaching a contract with a previous client (as the working arrangement was untenable) and I'm trying to figure out what to do.

I foolishly signed the client company's contract for provision of graphic design services for a month but I terminated it about 2 weeks in when the client was being unruly and wasnt clear on the scope of the work.

The contract is pretty airtight, and my Citizens Advice Bureau advised me to get legal aid, get a solicitor, and get the case heard in Scotland (where I'm based) rather than England (where the claimant is asking for it to be heard. As the case is covered by English law no Scots solicitors will agree to represent me. So I'm having to do this on my own. Also note I'm consulting my GP on trying to getting an autism/Asperger diagnosis this week so bear with me.

So before going into the details of particulars of claim I've been going through the contract to put holes in it to disprove its validity. And it would seem that person who signed it may not have or had the authority to have sign as hes not a director, but a manager, at the company so I need to disprove that he has any actual authority to have made the contract binding. Can I use this is a move to say the contract was null and void from the start and thus not enforceable?

Also note that although the contract signed is stated to be governed by the laws of England and Wales and England and Wales has exclusive jurisdiction to handle any contract disputes such as this as agreed to in the contract. I want to have the case heard in Scotland so do I have grounds to contest the jurisdiction or get it move up here as both the contract was signed electronically on my end in Scotland the tort or breach apparently occurred in Scotland? Exclusive jurisdiction can be contested apparently as shown here...

https://hsfnotes.com/litigation/2015...h-law-applied/

1.So the game plan is to prove the had not authority to sign the contract

2.Thus showing the agreement isn't valid under English law.

3.Defend in Scotland if need be

[Nostrus]

Hello,

1. You can try this, but I imagine all that needs to be proven to invalidate it is that said manager has been granted authority by one of the directors to sign off on contracts.

2. I am not qualified to comment on this, but I imagine it hinges on the outcome of #1.

3. What was the value of the contract?

Have you attempted to secure the services of an English lawyer?

[jaguarsuk]

The clause about jurisdiction basically means you can't move it to Scotland, you agreed to be governed by the law of England and Wales in performance of the contract and that the courts of England and Wales are where disputes are resolved regardless of where or how you signed it.

First and foremost we need to see the contract, so a link to it if their terms please? What you think are holes are not necessarily and what you think are fine aren't necessarily so, but without seeing it nobody can advise you.

As said in post #2, all they have to show is that the manager is authorised to sign contracts on behalf of the director(s) and then he is. A simple letter of authority will do that and it's probably quite easy for them to locate one from before he signed your contract if they needed to do that.

You say you cancelled about 2 weeks in, this is very important and you need to see whether about 2 weeks was more or less than 14 days?

[2222]

On the whole, particularly in the small claims track, courts are more interested in the substance of the contract than the minutiae. In this case, it may be better to concentrate on the reasons why the contract could not be carried out.