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Litigation and dispute resolution

Contractual boilerplate becomes unexpectedly . . . riveting

Warren Buffett famously said that “only when the tide goes out, do you discover who has been swimming naked”, which neatly captures the idea that it is only when there is a contractual problem, do you discover whether your contractual drafting has given you the protection that you need.  In a series of cases against

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September 1
2022
Commercial Law Litigation and dispute resolution

For “oppressive” strata by-laws in NSW, it’s now game, pet, and match

The proposition that what matters is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, was exemplified in the NSW Court of Appeal this week.  In one corner was a miniature schnauzer named Angus (no relation); in the other, the owners corporation of the 43-story, 341-lot

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October 14
2020
Litigation and dispute resolution Property Law

Can a non-profit organisation recover damages for lost profits?

When an innocent party is faced with an apparent breach of contract, there are always two questions to ask.  The first question is, “how strong is my argument that what has happened is, in, fact, a breach of contract?”  The second question, which is often more important, is “can I obtain a remedy which will

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January 31
2020
Employment Law Litigation and dispute resolution

Bull market dispute resolved by disclaimer in cattle log

It is very common to read about plaintiffs who have commenced misleading and deceptive conduct actions complaining that they have been sold a complete load of bull.  It is less common for those cases to involve actual bulls. However, the New South Wales Court of Appeal last week considered a misleading and deceptive conduct case

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December 23
2019
Commercial Law Competition and consumer law Litigation and dispute resolution

The un-palletable consequences of taking guarantees on trust

On the very first page of the leading Australian textbook on the law  of trusts, you will find the statement that, “a trust is not a juristic person with the legal personality distinct from that of the trustee and beneficiary”.  This is a lawyerly way of saying “a trust is a relationship – it is

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November 24
2019
Commercial Law Litigation and dispute resolution

“You know how to whistle, don’t you? You just put your lips together and blow.”

Whilst the key to whistling may have been summed up by Lauren Bacall to Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not, it is, unfortunately, not nearly so easy to summarise Australia’s new whistleblower laws which took effect on 1 July 2019. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Whistleblower Protections) Act 2019 (Cth) provides a single,

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September 23
2019
Employment Law Litigation and dispute resolution

When will “leave it to the experts” be a terrible idea?

There are many different ways to resolve contractual disputes.  As a consequence, when a contractual dispute arises, the question of which dispute resolution mechanism to use may become a further source of disputation.  For that reason, it is often a good idea to put some thought into dispute resolution clauses when the contract is being

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September 7
2019
Commercial Law Litigation and dispute resolution

Can you sue an employee who gains employment with a misleading CV?

The provision of misleading CVs by prospective employees can lead to a number of legal problems when the truth is discovered.  In most cases, the employer will dismiss the employee (and provided the investigation has been careful, the employer will usually be on safe ground in doing so). In a number of recent high profile cases, criminal charges

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July 6
2019
Employment Law Litigation and dispute resolution

What is an employer’s duty of care to a careless employee?

It has long been understood that the obligations of employers to provide a safe system of work are owed “not only to the careful and observant employee, but also to the hasty, careless, inadvertent, inattentive, unreasonable or disobedient employee in respect of conduct that is reasonably foreseeable”.  However, in two recent cases (one a safety prosecution,

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May 26
2019
Litigation and dispute resolution Work health and safety

I feel the need . . . the need for a deed

A lease is a lease is a lease, yes?  Well, not always.  If a lease is expressed to be in the form of a deed, then (amongst other consequences) a party who has signed and delivered the lease cannot withdraw their acceptance and “recall” (or back out of) the agreement to lease the premises, even

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May 16
2019
Litigation and dispute resolution Property Law
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