[2012]DLSC2607 • February 1, 2012 • Supreme Court •
GAISE ZWENNES HUGHES & CO. vs. LODERS CROCKLAAN B. V.
The defendant engaged the plaintiff, a law firm, to pursue a contractual dispute involving unpaid sheanut supplies from International Business Group, Ghana Ltd. The plaintiff successfully obtained a settlement judgment in favor of the defendant. Subsequently, the plaintiff sued the defendant to recover professional fees based on a retainer agreement calculated as a percentage of the settlement sum. The defendant challenged the claim on procedural grounds.
read moreDR. DATE-BAH JSC: I have had the privilege of reading before-hand the lucid and authoritative judgment about to be read by my brother Gbadegbe JSC and I agree with him. The interpretation put on section 30(1) of the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32) by the Court of Appeal in Ayarna & Anor V Agyemang & Ors [1976] 1 GLR 306 and by the Supreme Court more recently in Narter v Gati [2010] SCGLR 745 makes it inevitable for us to dismiss this action. (SGD) DR. S. K. DATE-BAH JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT GBADEGBE JSC: On or about 14 March 2006, the defendant instructed the plaintiff, a firm of legal practitioners, regarding a contract that they had previously entered into with a company known as International Business Group, Ghana Ltd and its managing director. It appears from the pleadings in this case that the contract was one of purchase of shea-...