East v Maurer
East v Maurer (Court of Appeal, 1990) is a contract law case about misrepresentation. Facts: Maurer falsely told East he would not run a competing hair salon. Believing him, East bought Maurer’s salon, but Maurer soon opened a competing salon and East's business suffered. East sued for deceit.
Judgment: The Court of Appeal held that East could recover a complex damages package: the price paid for the business minus the selling price if East later sold it; plus trading losses; plus the expenses of buying, selling, carrying out improvements, and other related costs; plus £10,000 for foregone profits. Foregone profits are recoverable in tort when the claimant could be expected to make them in a similar hairdressing business. However, profits that would have been particular to this specific business would require proof of a breach of a contractual warranty to be recovered.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:41 (CET).