Wynton Stone Australia Pty Ltd (in liq) v. MWH Australia Pty Ltd

Lower Court Judgment

21/09/2010 Supreme Court of Victoria (Court of Appeal) (Warren CJ, Buchanan & Nettle JJA)

[2010] VSCA 245

Catchwords

Practice and procedure — Pleadings — Trial judge stated, without objection, that pleaded issues would be treated as abandoned if not run in final submissions — Whether respondent abandoned breach of warranty claim.

Trade and commerce — Misleading and deceptive conduct — Warranty — Whether statement of fact in warranty constituted misleading and deceptive conduct — Causation — Reliance — Inferred reliance — Whether causation able to be inferred in absence of direct evidence of reliance — Gould v Vaggelas (1985) 157 CLR 215; Campbell v Backoffice Investments Pty Ltd [2010] VSCA 245.

Contracts — Construction and interpretation — Intention of parties — Deed of Novation — Whether release of "all claims and demands whatsoever in respect of the contract" intended to cover breaches of contract occurring before date of Deed — Application of "business commonsense point of view" where language not ambiguous on its face.

Short Particulars