Mealey v Power [2015] NSWSC 1678

Mealey v Power [2015] NSWSC 1678

Objectively construed in context, the statement that $50,000 might do it for Dr Power and another $20,000 would help was no more than an attempt to elicit a higher offer and did not contain any clear promise that the defendant would accept $70,000. No offer capable of acceptance was made, so the plaintiff's purported acceptance did not create a settlement agreement.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
10 November 2015
Procedural Posture
Summons / Hearing
Outcome
Summons dismissed; plaintiff to pay defendant's costs.
Legal Topics
['offer and Acceptance' 'settlement Negotiations' 'whether Oral Communication Constituted an Offer Capable of Acceptance' 'witness Credibility' 'demeanour' 'contemporaneous Notes and Objective Facts']
['contract' 'evidence'] ['offer and Acceptance' 'settlement Negotiations' 'whether Oral Communication Constituted an Offer Capable of Acceptance' 'witness Credibility' 'demeanour' 'contemporaneous Notes and Objective Facts']

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Procedural Posture

Summons / Hearing

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether a statement by the defendant's solicitor during settlement communications was an offer or counter-offer of $70,000 capable of acceptance." 'Whether the objective intention of the parties, assessed by their communicated words and actions and surrounding circumstances, showed that an agreement had come into existence.']

Ratio Decidendi

Objectively construed in context, the statement that $50,000 might do it for Dr Power and another $20,000 would help was no more than an attempt to elicit a higher offer and did not contain any clear promise that the defendant would accept $70,000. No offer capable of acceptance was made, so the plaintiff's purported acceptance did not create a settlement agreement.

Court Disposition

Summons dismissed; plaintiff to pay defendant's costs.

Orders

  • ['Summons dismissed' "Plaintiff to pay defendant's costs"]