15 Oct 2007
The District Court correctly weighed conflicting expert evidence, was entitled to accept Holliday's viva voce evidence despite his interest after close scrutiny, found on balance the chest was likely a late 19th century antique and therefore no actionable misrepresentation was established; appeal dismissed and no retrial ordered.
12 Feb 2007
The Browne v Dunn rule did not preclude the trial Judge from disbelieving McMullin and Schipper because the witnesses and parties had clear notice the issue would be contested, briefs had been exchanged, the witnesses' evidence was brief and vague, and the trial Judge properly assessed credibility; the Judge found the purchaser paid less than $7,000 for chattels (not $20,000 for the house), so there was no undisclosed consideration, no breach entitling cancellation, and the District Court judgment in favour of the respondent was upheld.
25 Oct 2006
Because credibility is central and R441F contemplates reading evidence in a brief, the judge ordered that Mr Fava must read the parts of his brief on which the plaintiffs wish to rely (those agreed with counsel), refused to treat the remainder as simply taken as read, and directed a limited delay for counsel to agree which parts will be read and to commence reading with provision to adjourn if unannotated ABD references are reached; admissibility objections remain open and may lead to exclusion of parts of the brief.