BrisConnections Finance Pty Limited (Receivers and Managers Appointed) v Arup Pty Limited [2017] FCA 1268

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

BrisConnections Finance Pty Limited (Receivers and Managers Appointed) v Arup Pty Limited [2017] FCA 1268 File number: NSD 521 of 2014

Judge: LEE J

Date of judgment: 16 October 2017

Catchwords: EVIDENCE – opinion evidence – admissibility of 'joint' expert report – problem of compromised opinions – consideration of s 79 of the Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) in the context of complex expert reports prepared by more than one author and partly on the basis of work performed by others Held: opinion evidence in the 'joint' expert report and evidence on the voir dire admitted as evidence of one expert – 'revised' report of expert rejected PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Division 23.2 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) – consideration of what is required to "identify the questions that the expert was asked to address" within the meaning of rule 23.13(d) and letters of instruction

Legislation: Evidence Act 1995 (Cth), Pts 3.3, 3.11, ss 79, 135, 142, 189, 192A Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth), ss 37M(3), 37P(2) Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth), Div 23.2, rr 23.11, 23.13, 23.13(1)(d) Federal Rules of Evidence (US), r 702

Cases cited: Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Rich [2004] NSWSC 1062; (2004) 213 ALR 338 Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Rich [2005] NSWSC 149; (2005) 190 FLR 242 Brown v Commissioner of Taxation [2002] FCA 318; (2002) 119 FCR 269 Casley-Smith v F S Evans & Sons Pty Ltd (No 2) (1988) 49 SASR 332 Cooke v Federal Commissioner of Taxation [2002] FCA 1315; (2002) 51 ATR 223 Dale K. Barker Co. v Valley Plaza, 541 Fed Appx 810 (2013) Dasreef Pty Ltd v Hawchar [2011] HCA 21; (2011) 243 CLR 588 Ex parte Whitelock; Re Mackenzie [1971] 2 NSWLR 534 HG v The Queen [1999] HCA 2; (1999) 197 CLR 414 In re: Syngenta AG MIR 162 Corn Litigation, USDC (Kansas) Case No. 14-md-2591-JWL (2 Sept 2016) International Harvester Company of Australia Pty Ltd v McCorkell [1962] Qd R 356 Paciocco v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd [2014] FCA 35; (2014) 309 ALR 249 Paino v Paino [2008] NSWCA 276; (2008) 40 Fam LR 96 R v Amo [1963] P & NGLR 22 R v Dobson; Ex parte Anm (1975) 15 ACTR 33 TKWJ v The Queen [2002] HCA 46; (2002) 212 CLR 124 Cowen Z and Carter P, 'Some Observations on the Opinion Rule' in Essays on the Law of Evidence (Clarendon Press, 1956) Forbes J R, "Inadmissible Evidence: Objections Well Taken and Rulings Well Made" (1984) 13 University of Queensland Law Journal 197 Wigmore J, Evidence in Trials at the Common Law (3rd ed, rev J Chadbourn, Little Brown, 1978) Vol 7