Recently in Court

2008

Children – When are they old enough to decide?

You often hear separated parents say that their children do not want to spend time with the other parent and they cannot force them. What should a parent do? Read more...

2007

Court Rules on PAMDA Warning Statements - When Can a Buyer Terminate?

The Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act (PAMDA) specifies that the form 30c warning statement must be attached to the contract as its first or top sheet. At what point in the negotiations must this happen? Is the specified order required to be as observed at all times? Read more...

When the Hammer Falls

The Supreme Court of Queensland recently delivered a decision which discussed some potential pitfalls of buying a property at auction. HZD and BB were bidding on a Paradise Waters property at auction. The standard "Conditions of Sale by Public Auction for Real Property in Queensland" were prominently displayed and read out to the crowd. Read more...

When good claims go bad - Boskovic v. Boskovic & Anor [2007] QDC 186

Usually the odds that a plaintiff's evidence will be largely or wholly preferred to a defendant's are better than even. Accepting a body of medical evidence that a plaintiff's injuries are minimal, non-existent, or unconnected with an accident requires a Court to reject the plaintiff's evidence of complaints as unreliable. This happened in the case of Boskovic v. Boskovic & Anor [2007] QDC 186 (24 August 2007). Read more...

ZOROM ENTERPRISES PTY LTD v ZABOW & ORS [2007] NSWCA 106

On 15 March 2003, Peter John Zabow ("the plaintiff") was assaulted outside the Clovelly Hotel by one of the security guards employed by Zorom Enterprises Pty Ltd. There were eleven security personnel at the hotel on the night, five of whom were provided by DSS Group Pty Ltd and six by Zorom. Before the assault, three of the plaintiff's friends, who had been with the plaintiff attending a party at the hotel, had been evicted by security personnel, and were outside the hotel on a footpath. Seven or eight security personnel were in the vicinity. Read more...

Enough Already? Section 45 of the MAIA continues in litigation phase - Angus v Conelius & Anor [2007] QCA 190

The Court of Appeal (Williams JA, Jerrard JA and Atkinson J) has unanimously confirmed section 45 of the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld) ("the MAIA") applies when proceedings have been issued. Read more...

High Court grants special leave from North Sydney Council v Roman [2007] NSWCA 27 - will it be okay for a Road Authority to incompetently keep records?

Maria Christina Roman ("the plaintiff') stumbled in a pothole half a metre wide and about four to five inches deep and fell on Princes Street, McMahon's Point on 16 October 2001. She sued the North Sydney Council alleging negligence in failing to maintain the road by repairing the pothole. Read more...

Amos v Monsour Legal Costs [2007] QCA 235

Amos, described as a frequent litigator in the Courts, chalked up another notable case and has once again assisted the community's understanding of the law by clarifying a contentious point about costs. In 2005 the Queensland's Court of Appeal confirmed that a plaintiff (in that case Amos) whose action was dismissed at trial to which the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act applied must pay the Defendant's costs. Read more...

NSW v Fahy - Duty to serve and protect trumps need for buddy cop system

In NSW v Fahy, the High Court by a bare majority allowed an employer's appeal against a finding of negligence for a failure to offer a safe system of work to a police officer near a crime scene. Gemma Fahy, a Constable in the New South Wales Police Force, suffered PTSD as a result of a lack of support provided by her colleagues in the course of operational duties, the trial judge found. Read more...

Golden Eagle v Zhang - Prospective life tables, and the effect of contributory negligence on CTP insurer payments

Zhang's damages awarded for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident included out-of-pocket payments made by a third-party insurer. At trial the total amount of damages were reduced by 30% for contributory negligence, and then further reduced by the amount paid under the Motor Accidents Act 1988 NSW, s 45. The Court of Appeal corrected this and held the s 45(4) amount should have been deducted from the total damages before the reduction in the balance by 30% for contributory negligence; this method of calculation left the plaintiff better off. Read more...

Leichardt Municipal Council v Montgomery - High Court's refusal to expand non-delegable duties

In Leichhardt Municipal Council v Montgomery, the High Court allowed an appeal arising out of a claim from a pedestrian's fall into a telecommunications pit on a footpath on Parramatta Road, Leichhardt. The Council engaged a contractor, Roan Constructions Pty Limited ("Roan"), to perform work on the footpath. Work on the footpath was carried out at night to accommodate, as far as possible, the heavy pedestrian traffic. Read more...

Green v Hanson - Stair Cases - tread warily

Queensland 's Court of Appeal has given close consideration to the legal, factual and evidence issues which arise in a claim from a common type of accident. In the joint judgment of Jerrard JA, White and Atkinson JJ handed down on 10 August 2007, the Court analysed issues of the content of the duty of care imposed on the occupier, breach of the duty, causation, the role and cogency of expert evidence, and the contributory negligence of a person using stairs in the course of employment. Read more...

Spencer v Nominal Defendant - Conscientious compliance with the pre-court regime and unfiled Court Claims

The Court of Appeal in Spencer v Nominal Defendant [2007] QCA 254 has tackled once again the situation where a claimant with a complying Notice of Accident claim form (‘NOAC") under the Motor Accident Insurance Act ("MAIA") did not start a court proceeding within the limitation period. At one point plaintiffs' lawyers may have hoped that section 57(2)(b) of the MAIA offered an accessible escape hatch. If so, it is a heavy one and it is hard to prise open, as the Court's published reasons of 8 August 2007 confirm. Read more...

Spedding v Nobles - Looking for the heart of Saturday night

Spedding, the licensee of the Bald Faced Stag Hotel on the corner of Balmain and Parramatta Roads, Leichhardt, appealed against a decision of the District Court which found him liable in negligence for injuries caused to Ms Nobles and Ms McNally as a result of a fracas at the hotel in the early hours of 18 October 1998. Read more...

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