7 Jul 2021
The settlement agreement and deed were valid and subsumed prior loan arrangements; the defendant defaulted by failing to make the agreed instalment, there was no arguable defence and no appearance, therefore summary judgment is entered for the plaintiff for the outstanding amount plus contractual/statutory interest and agreed solicitor/client costs and disbursements.
12 Nov 2020
Summary judgment dismissed because material factual issues and ambiguities remain regarding whether the Deed created a new, standalone personal obligation on Mr Flavell or merely recorded pre-existing entity-level arrangements; the original informal loan agreements form part of the factual matrix and require fuller evidence and cross-examination at a substantive hearing before liability and valuation issues (including profit-sharing and Ecobiotics share value) can be resolved.
13 Jul 2020
The weekly $600 payments were a substitution of wages funded by Blacklime routed through Mr Mansfield and were not advances intended as loans repayable by the Fresh Start Trust; thus the Trust did not owe $21,600 and the trustees were not required to repay that sum before distributing the trust assets.
2 Dec 2014
The court held that summary judgment was appropriate only for the enforceable deed of acknowledgement of debt to the extent not credited by payments: judgment entered against Andrea Colleen Sutcliffe for $62,647.65 plus interest per the deed; the larger factual disputes about whether prior advances were loans or gifts, the husband's liability and allegations of undue influence and fraud could not be resolved on summary judgment and must proceed to trial or case management.
20 May 2014
The Court held the plaintiff advanced both the First and Second Advances under the executed deeds; there was no credible evidence of an oral 'wash up' variation; there is no evidence of repayment of dividends to reduce principal; the parties accepted that liability is limited to the assets of the Mark Woods Trust; accordingly judgment for the unpaid principal and interest was entered for the plaintiff and costs awarded on a 2B basis with a 50% uplift.
24 Oct 2013
The priority clause requires the Daniell Trust to sign a new deed of priority in respect of substituted bank security provided the refinancing is bona fide; the clause permits substitution(s) and does not expressly cap the substituted bank's priority at $3.5m, but bona fides is an implied limitation preventing arrangements that would unfairly jeopardise the Trust's security.
30 Mar 2012
Summary judgment was dismissed because the plaintiff's own affidavits were inconsistent and unreliable on the effect and her understanding of the contemporaneous document, material factual disputes existed (including alleged 2005 offset) requiring oral evidence and cross-examination, and the plaintiff failed to prove the defendant had no defence.
14 Apr 2009
Documentary evidence (loan agreements, deed of guarantee, deed of acknowledgement and deed of assignment) established prima facie indebtedness; assignment to plaintiff and statutory/common law rights of a guarantor who pays entitled plaintiff to recover; defendants' asserted estoppel and oral agreement defences were not tenable against clear written instruments and affidavit evidence; plaintiffs demonstrated sufficient evidence of risk of dissipation and failure to disclose to justify continuation of the freezing order, so summary judgment and related relief were granted on causes 2, 3 and 4.
29 Jul 2008
The defendant personally negotiated and instructed the loan documentation excluding the company, the funds were applied through the partnership but the documentation and communications demonstrate a personal obligation by the defendant; she has no arguable defence and must indemnify the plaintiff for his obligations to the lender (Ms Bridgeman).