Casazza v McGuinness [2022] NSWSC 348

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Casazza v McGuinness [2022] NSWSC 348 Hearing dates: 22 March 2022 Date of orders: 29 March 2022 Decision date: 29 March 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Cavanagh J Decision: (1) The amended summons is dismissed. (2) The plaintiff to pay the first defendant's costs. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE — appeal and review — appeal from Local Court CONTRACTS — formation — identification of parties to an agreement — post-contractual conduct Legislation Cited: Local Court Act 2007 (NSW) Cases Cited: Administration of Papua and New Guinea v Daera Guba (1973) 130 CLR 353; [1973] HCA 59 Agricultural and Rural Finance Pty Ltd v Gardiner 238 CLR 570; [2008] HCA 57 County Securities Pty Ltd v Challenger Group Holdings Pty Ltd & Anor [2008] NSWCA 193 Tomko v Palasty [2007] NSWCA 258 Whitworth Street Estates Ltd v Miller [1970] AC 583 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Mark Casazza (Plaintiff) Geoffrey McGuinness (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: M Maconachie (Plaintiff) L Havenstein (Defendant)

Solicitors: Blueprint Law (Plaintiff) Brydens Lawyers Pty Limited (Defendant) File Number(s): 2021/237444 Publication restriction: Nil

Judgment 1. This is an appeal from the Local Court pursuant to s 39 of the Local Court Act 2007 (NSW). 2. The appeal is of narrow compass and the amount involved is small ($16,000). 3. The plaintiff, as the appellant, seeks to challenge a finding of the learned Magistrate, Jacqueline Milledge, that the first defendant was not a party to a loan agreement with the plaintiff and was therefore not liable to repay the sums said to have been loaned by the plaintiff. 4. The three defendants to the Amended Summons were all defendants in the Local Court, albeit no orders are sought against the second and third defendants. 5. There was no appearance by the other defendants in the Local Court (and judgment was entered against them) and there is no appearance by those same defendants in these proceedings.