Stephen Warne on professional negligence, regulation and discipline around the world

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Entries Tagged as 'Out of court settlements'

Can’t keep up

August 7th, 2010 · No Comments

Many new decisions of interest are coming out and I will not have time to blog them any time soon as I have to go to University and concentrate on my latest and hopefully last field of study, Shareholders Rights and Remedies.  Here are some pointers in case you want to read this slew of [...]

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Tags: Criminal liability · Discipline · Negligence · Out of court settlements · autrefois acquit · doctors · procedure · prosecutorial failures

Part-payment cheques in full and final settlement of debts

June 27th, 2010 · 2 Comments

Updates, 3 August 2010: For an application of these principles in the context of an offer of compromise made in a dispute about party party costs, see Amos v Monsour Pty Ltd (formerly Monsour Legal Costs Pty Ltd) [2010] FCA 741.  For a Victorian authority of high pedigree on the subject, see the old decision [...]

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Tags: Out of court settlements

Without prejudice privilege and the Evidence Act, 2008

May 23rd, 2010 · No Comments

Update, 9 August 2010: See also Forsyth v Sinclair (No 2) [2010] VSCA 195 where Justices of Appeal Neave and Redlich and Acting Justice of Appeal Habersberger held that the Evidence Act, 2008‘s ‘relevant to costs’ exception to the s. 131 rule that without prejudice communications are inadmissible is trumped by the Supreme Court Act, [...]

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Tags: Evidence · Negotiation privilege · Out of court settlements

Settlements unapportioned between costs and damages

November 14th, 2009 · No Comments

Morris v Riverwild Management Pty Ltd [2009] VSC 439 is a decision of Justice Pagone in an unusual dispute.  A developer built some apartments at Falls Creek.  Something obviously went wrong, because he and one of the purchasers of an apartment sued the architect, the builder, the structural engineer and his company, the supervising engineer [...]

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Tags: Out of court settlements · Party party costs

House of Lords restates law of negotiation (or ‘without prejudice’) privilege

May 9th, 2009 · No Comments

I reckon Dr Desiatnik is unlucky with the timing of his texts.  The first edition of Legal Professional Privilege in Australia was finished when the High Court changed the test for the privilege from a sole purpose to dominant purpose and restated the law of implied waiver.  I have always shuddered about the story one [...]

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Tags: Ethics · Negotiation privilege · Out of court settlements · duties of confidentiality · litigation ethics

On splitting liability and quantum

April 29th, 2009 · 2 Comments

In this post, I reproduce an extract from Justice Hoeben’s recent decision in Johnson v Trustees of the Roman Catholic Church [2009] NSWSC 309 which discusses the increasing willingness of courts (in NSW at least) to determine preliminary issues before the main trial. In this case, everything except for quantum was ordered to be determined [...]

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Tags: Negligence · Out of court settlements · Party party costs

The construction of the full common law release

April 24th, 2009 · No Comments

Litigation was settled for several million dollars. The release said ’5. The plaintiffs hereby release the defendants from all claims, actions, suits, demands arising from or in any way connected with the Proceedings, the allegations contained in the Statement of Claim and of the liquidation of the third plaintiff.’ That’s the kind of release you [...]

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Tags: Negligence · Out of court settlements · defences