Judgments

Latest Judgments

Many cases settle out of Court. However, there are occasions when matters run to fully contested hearings. In this section you can browse some examples of reported cases in which Eakin McCaffery Cox Lawyers acted for one or other party to the litigation:

Successful defense of claim for excessive compensation for claim of rectification costs (Feburary 2022)
The Construction Property Law team at Eakin McCaffery Cox, let by Partner, Linda Holland successfully defended a claim by our clients’ neighbours for compensation to carry out excessive (and costly) works to rectify a defective retaining wall constructed around 40 years ago between two suburban properties. Please click on the hyperlinked title to read the full article.

Fitz Jersey Pty Limited v. Atlas Construction Group Pty Limited (in liquidation) & Ors [2021] NSWSC 1692 (January 2022)
The Supreme Court has held that a contractor who received moneys pursuant to the legislative security of payment (SOP) process was not entitled to treat those moneys as revenue for the purpose of paying dividends to its shareholders and that these dividend payments were to be restored to the company for payment of debts to its creditors.

Since this issue has not previously been dealt with before in the two decades that the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (SOP Act) has been in operation, but is likely to impact the business operations of all stakeholders across the construction sector, this is an extremely important decision for the industry. Please click on the hyperlinked title to read the full article.