White v Attwells [2020] NSWSC 1520

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: White v Attwells [2020] NSWSC 1520 Hearing dates: 28, 29 October 2020 Decision date: 30 October 2020 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Adamson J Decision: (1) Dismiss the plaintiff's notice of motion filed on 31 March 2020. (2) Declare that the parties have not entered into a binding agreement to settle these proceedings which, accordingly, remain on foot. (3) Subject to any application for a contrary order being made in writing to my Associate within seven days, order the plaintiff to pay the defendant's costs of the hearing of the separate question. (4) Direct the parties to confer on an appropriate timetable for the filing and service of submissions on outstanding orders, including the costs of the plaintiff's proposed filing of a notice of discontinuance and provide draft short minutes to my Associate within seven days hereof. (5) Grant liberty to the parties to restore the matter before me on three days' notice to my Associate. Catchwords: CONTRACTS — Construction — Agreement between parties to a dispute purporting to settle proceedings — Whether parties entered binding agreement to settle proceedings — Meaning of "resolve this matter" — Objective intention of parties — Context of agreement — Whether terms of agreement sufficiently clear CONTRACTS — Unjust contracts — Contracts Review Act 1980 (NSW) — Inequality in bargaining power — Unfair tactics — Where plaintiff approached defendant through intermediaries rather than defendant's solicitor — Where defendant had not received advice Legislation Cited: Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth), s 60 Contracts Review Act 1980 (NSW), ss 7, 9 Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) (rep), ss 319, 324, 327 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 42.1 Cases Cited: Attwells v Jackson Lalic Lawyers Pty Ltd [2013] NSWSC 1510 Attwells v Jackson Lalic Lawyers Pty Ltd [2013] NSWSC 925 Attwells v Jackson Lalic Lawyers Pty Ltd (2016) 259 CLR 1; [2016] HCA 16 Codelfa Construction Pty Ltd v State Rail Authority of New South Wales (1982) 149 CLR 337; [1982] HCA 24 Jackson Lalic Lawyers Pty Ltd v Attwells [2014] NSWCA 335 Re Minister for Immigration & Ethnic Affairs; Ex Parte Lai Qin (1997) 186 CLR 622; [1997] HCA 6 Taylor v Johnson (1983) 151 CLR 422; [1983] HCA 5 Upper Hunter County District Council v Australian Chilling & Freezing Co Ltd (1968) 118 CLR 429; [1968] HCA 8 Ventouris Enterprises Pty Ltd v Dib Group Pty Ltd (No. 4) [2011] NSWSC 720 White v Attwells; Attwells v White [2019] NSWSC 1278 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Gary Alan White (Plaintiff / Cross-defendant) Noel Bruce Attwells (Defendant / Cross-claimant) Representation: Counsel: J K Raftery (Plaintiff / Cross-defendant) R D Newell (Defendant/Cross-claimant)