By Louise Cantrill, Partner and Jack Robson, Law Graduate
What exactly constitutes ‘widely accepted’ practice has been a point of contention in New South Wales and the New South Wales Court of Appeal has been divided on the exact ambit of ‘widely accepted’ practice. Most importantly, for this case, the NSW Court of Appeal has established that ‘where the defendant has established the preconditions to s 5O, then there is a single standard against which the defendant is assessed’.
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By David Slatyer, Partner, and Emily Marles, Solicitor
HCF Life (HCF), a life insurer offering products which contain exclusions in respect of pre-existing conditions, has been found to have engaged in misleading conduct by including a pre-existing condition term in a contract that was partially unenforceable by virtue of section 47 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) (ICA).
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By Tamara James, Lawyer, and Stefan Sudweeks, Partner
In a decision that appears, on its face, to be contrary to the position in Jireh, in QBT Pty Ltd v Wilson [2024] NSWCA 114 the NSW Court of Appeal upheld a first instance judgment which seemed to extend the instances when a Court will remedy contractual terms to include instances where a clause is clear and effective but leads to a commercially absurd result. However, on closer analysis, this is not the case and Jireh remains good law.
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By David Slatyer, Partner, and Dominic Young, Solicitor
A truck driver employed by ROTC was injured at Orica’s premises and the employee brought a claim against Orica, which Orica settled in respect of their own liability. Orica brought a third-party claim against ROTC for breach of contract, by failing to effect an insurance policy that provided cover to Orica.
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By Stuart Eustice, Partner and Ross Agelopoulos, Clerk
On 22 November 2024, the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal (VSCA) handed down its decision in relation to an application for leave to appeal from the County Court of Victoria by Mr Antonio Basile (Basile).
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By David Slatyer, Partner, and Edward Cope, Associate
In the landmark decision of Bird v DP (a pseudonym) [2024] HCA 41, the High Court has declined to expand the doctrine of vicarious liability beyond relationships of employment.
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By Stuart Eustice, Partner
In this article, Melbourne Insurance Partner Stuart Eustice provides a snapshot of key cases of registered health practitioner misconduct in Victoria.
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