Court of Appeal dismisses US$1.24m fee claim over Bank of Ghana headquarters land
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Ghana's Court of Appeal has dismissed a claim of more than US$1.2 million in commission by law firm KAA Law against the Bank of Ghana over the land on which the central bank's new headquarters was built.
Ghana's Court of Appeal has dismissed a claim of more than US$1.2 million in commission by private law firm KAA Law against the Bank of Ghana (BoG) over the land on which the central bank's new headquarters has been built. KAA Law had accused the BoG of going behind its back to acquire the land after the firm assisted the bank in searching for a suitable property for the project.
The firm initially sued the BoG at the High Court, demanding about US$1.2 million in commission. The suit was dismissed after the court found that KAA Law could not establish a written engagement, the agreed scope of work or the agreed fee, with the High Court also awarding GH¢50,000 in costs against the firm.
According to legal practitioner Professor Kwaku Asare, the Court of Appeal upheld the substance of the High Court's decision but found that the lower court had applied the wrong legal process. The appeal court held that KAA Law was providing property or real-estate services rather than legal services, so the rules governing lawyers' engagement letters did not apply, and that documents in the case indicated the firm was acting for the party selling the land.
The court noted that dual representation of the BoG and the seller was not inherently wrong but required the knowledge and consent of all parties, and that KAA Law produced no evidence that both parties knew about and consented to it. It also ruled that the firm could not recover the reasonable value of services performed for its own client from the BoG, while reducing the costs award from GH¢50,000 to GH¢10,000.