MOORES ROWLAND (A Firm) AND ANOTHER v. GRANT THORNTON (A Firm) AND OTHERS

The court held the perfected consent orders could not be set aside in these interlocutory summonses because the court is functus officio once consent orders are perfected and the proper remedy is a fresh action to impeach such orders; even if some limited jurisdiction existed to set aside a nullity, the applicants had not established that Hart Giles lacked authority or that the orders were nullities and, in any event, the internal partnership dispute must be finally determined first; alternatively, granting the relief would unjustifiably frustrate the Settlement Deed and expose partners and third parties to substantial liability without security, so interlocutory relief was refused.

Citation: MOORES ROWLAND (A Firm) AND ANOTHER v. GRANT THORNTON (A Firm) AND OTHERS
Parties: 1st Plaintiff (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): MOORES ROWLAND (A Firm); 2nd Plaintiff (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): UNITED SECRETARIES LIMITED; 1st Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): GRANT THORNTON (A Firm); 2nd Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): GABRIEL RICARDO DIAS-AZEDO; 3rd Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): JONATHAN RUSSELL LEONG; 4th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): TANG CHUNG WAH (aka TANG CHUNG WAH, ALAN); 5th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): CHOW TAK MING, PAUL; 6th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): YUEN KWOK KEUNG (aka YUEN KWOK KEUNG, DESMOND); 7th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): CHIU WING CHEUNG, RINGO; 8th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): LAM HUNG YUN, ANDREW; 9th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): GARY TERENCE JAMES; 10th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): LEE FUNG YING, ALISON; 11th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): LO NGAI HANG (aka LO NGAI HANG, TONY); 12th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): AU YIU KWAN (aka AU YIU KWAN, ALVIN); 13th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): PATRICK ROZARIO; 14th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): LI WING YIN (aka LI WING YIN, AMOS); 15th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010): TSUI KA CHE, NORMAN; Plaintiff (hca 1873/2010): JBPB & CO. (formerly known as GRANT THORNTON); 1st Defendant (hca 1873/2010): FONG CHUNG, MARK; 2nd Defendant (hca 1873/2010): LIN CHING YEE, DANIEL; 3rd Defendant (hca 1873/2010): SIM KON FAH; 4th Defendant (hca 1873/2010): DING WAI CHUEN; 5th Defendant (hca 1873/2010): KWONG KAM WING, KELVIN; 6th Defendant (hca 1873/2010): CHIU WING NING, CALVIN; Claimant (hcmp 1284/2011): GRANT THORNTON INTERNATIONAL LIMITED; Respondent (hcmp 1284/2011): JBPB & CO. (a partnership)
Court: Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction: Hong Kong
Judgment Date: 8 June 2012
Case Number: HCA1126/2010
Procedural Posture: Consolidated Civil Actions and HCMP (partnership Dispute) / Decision on Interlocutory Summonses to Set Aside Consent Orders
Outcome: Subject Applications dismissed
Legal Topics: Authority of Partners, Consent Orders, Functus Officio, Res Judicata/issue Estoppel, Injunctions, Termination Agreement, Indemnity and Security
Source Language: EN

Partnership Law Civil Procedure Arbitration Authority of Partners Consent Orders Functus Officio Res Judicata/issue Estoppel Injunctions +2 more

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Parties

MOORES ROWLAND (A Firm)

1st Plaintiff (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

UNITED SECRETARIES LIMITED

2nd Plaintiff (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

GRANT THORNTON (A Firm)

1st Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

GABRIEL RICARDO DIAS-AZEDO

2nd Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

JONATHAN RUSSELL LEONG

3rd Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

TANG CHUNG WAH (aka TANG CHUNG WAH, ALAN)

4th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

CHOW TAK MING, PAUL

5th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

YUEN KWOK KEUNG (aka YUEN KWOK KEUNG, DESMOND)

6th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

CHIU WING CHEUNG, RINGO

7th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

LAM HUNG YUN, ANDREW

8th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

GARY TERENCE JAMES

9th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

LEE FUNG YING, ALISON

10th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

LO NGAI HANG (aka LO NGAI HANG, TONY)

11th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

AU YIU KWAN (aka AU YIU KWAN, ALVIN)

12th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

PATRICK ROZARIO

13th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

LI WING YIN (aka LI WING YIN, AMOS)

14th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

TSUI KA CHE, NORMAN

15th Defendant (hca 1126/2010 & HCA 735/2010)

JBPB & CO. (formerly known as GRANT THORNTON)

Plaintiff (hca 1873/2010)

FONG CHUNG, MARK

1st Defendant (hca 1873/2010)

LIN CHING YEE, DANIEL

2nd Defendant (hca 1873/2010)

SIM KON FAH

3rd Defendant (hca 1873/2010)

DING WAI CHUEN

4th Defendant (hca 1873/2010)

KWONG KAM WING, KELVIN

5th Defendant (hca 1873/2010)

CHIU WING NING, CALVIN

6th Defendant (hca 1873/2010)

GRANT THORNTON INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

Claimant (hcmp 1284/2011)

JBPB & CO. (a partnership)

Respondent (hcmp 1284/2011)

Procedural Posture

Consolidated Civil Actions and HCMP (partnership Dispute) / Decision on Interlocutory Summonses to Set Aside Consent Orders

Legal Issues

1 Whether the court has jurisdiction to set aside perfected consent orders obtained by solicitors purportedly acting for a partnership
2 Whether the majority partners had authority to enter into and bind the firm to the Settlement Deed
3 Whether clause 7.1 of the Termination Agreement displaced the ordinary majority rule in the Partnership Deed

Ratio Decidendi

Court Disposition

Subject Applications dismissed

Orders

Subject Applications dismissed
Order nisi that the minority partners pay the costs of the Subject Applications to all other parties in the three Actions, to be made absolute 14 days after the date of the decision