When a client signs a contract because the other side told them something untrue, misrepresentation is the tool you reach for. It is one of the vitiating factors that can unravel a deal, and it surfaces constantly in practice: a misdescribed property, an overstated set of accounts, a concealed defect. Your job as a solicitor is to work out whether the false statement is actionable, what kind of misrepresentation it is, and what your client can actually recover or undo.
This lesson builds that skill step by step.
- Nature, Effect and Elements — what misrepresentation is, why it makes a contract voidable, and the elements you must establish.
- A False Statement of Fact or Law — what counts as a false statement, and when opinion, silence or conduct can qualify.
- Inducement — proving the statement actually influenced your client's decision to contract.
- Types of Misrepresentation — distinguishing fraudulent, negligent and innocent, and who must prove what.
- Damages — the measures available, including the generous deceit measure and damages in lieu of rescission.
- Rescission and its Bars — unwinding the contract, and the four things that can block it.
- Exclusion and Overlap — when liability can be excluded, and how misrepresentation interacts with contractual terms and breach.