Hadley v. Baxendale
(1854) 9 Exch 341; 156 ER 145 · Court of Exchequer (England) · 1854
PrincipleOnly losses that arise naturally or that both parties contemplated at contracting are recoverable.
Facts
A mill stopped when its crankshaft broke. The millers sent the shaft by a carrier, Baxendale, to serve as a pattern for a new one, but the carrier delayed delivery and the mill stood idle for longer. The millers claimed the profits lost during the delay.
Held
The court laid down that damages for breach are those that arise naturally in the usual course of things from the breach, or those that may reasonably be supposed to have been in the contemplation of both parties at the time of the contract as the probable result of its breach. The carrier did not know that the mill would be idle, so the lost profits were too remote.
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