Author: Kylie Weston-Scheuber

Laming v Jennings

Dr Kylie Weston-Scheuber and Matthew Harvey examine a recent Court of Appeal decision concerning the requirements for an easement by presumption of lost modern grant. The Court made some interesting observations about the interaction between the doctrine and the Transfer of Land Act, which may be of relevance to future matters where easements are claimed.

Security of Payments update: High Court affirms scope of review limited to jurisdictional error

The High Court has handed down its decisions in the second and third cases concerning Security of Payments legislation to come before it. In Probuild v Shade Systems and Maxcon v Vadasz, the High Court affirmed that in New South Wales and South Australia, review is available for jurisdictional error but not for error of law on the face of the record.

Plaintiff must properly plead its claim against concurrent wrongdoers

A recent decision by Vickery J addresses the practice of “piggybacking” by a plaintiff in the proportionate liability context. The decision means that a plaintiff bringing a claim against a concurrent wrongdoer joined by the defendant must properly plead a cause of action against them; it may be insufficient simply to make reference to the first defendant’s pleading.

A wider ambit for the unreasonable director-related transactions provisions of the Corporations Act?

In Vasudevan & Ors v Becon Const & Anor [2014] VSCA 14, the Victorian Court of Appeal adopted a broader interpretation of the phrase ‘for the benefit of … a director’ in s 588FDA of the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act) than has been accepted in previous cases. The decision has the potential to widen the ambit of the unreasonable director-related transactions provisions of the Act.