James Mather and Mark Wraith appeared for the successful appellant in Malik v Hussain [2023] EWCA Civ 2, in which the Court of Appeal held that where there was a term requiring contracts to be exchanged within seven days of payment of the deposit by a successful bidder that only required the bidder to exchange within seven days of being presented with a contract in a form capable of being present with a contract in a form capable of being executed and exchanged.  The issue arose in the context of a long-running partnership and company dispute concerning the ownership of a prominent restaurant business in Manchester.  In previous trials James and Mark successfully established the disputed existence of the partnership and that the claimant was entitled to require an open market sale of the relevant assets rather than a buy-out at a valuation determined by the court.  

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