Ye v Chen [2022] NSWSC 494

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Ye v Chen [2022] NSWSC 494 Hearing dates: 21 April 2022 Decision date: 27 April 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Adamson J Decision: (1) Refuse leave to the plaintiffs in respect of grounds 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the amended summons. (2) Grant leave to the plaintiffs pursuant to s 40(1) of the Local Court Act 2007 (NSW) in respect of grounds 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. (3) Dismiss the appeal. (4) Subject to any party making an application in writing to my Associate within seven days for an order to the contrary, order the plaintiffs to pay the defendant's costs of the proceedings in this Court. (5) Direct the parties to provide draft minutes of order to my Associate within five weeks which address the orders to be made following the orders made by Beech-Jones J on 22 March 2021 and any other extant orders. (6) Stand the matter over to 8 June 2022, such date to be vacated if all outstanding orders sought are made prior to that date. Catchwords: APPEALS — appeal as of right or by leave from Local Court APPEALS — Procedural fairness — whether refusal to grant leave to adduce expert evidence amounted to a denial of procedural fairness — where refusal did not amount to a denial of procedural fairness CONTRACTS — Construction — Interpretation — Background — nature of agreement — whether agreement constituted a guarantee or separate agreement — whether signatory signed in own right or on behalf of the company CONTRACTS — Formation — Consideration — Forbearance to sue — whether "please allow until particular date to investigate" constituted a forbearance to sue COSTS — indemnity costs — whether defendant's conduct constituted relevant delinquency COSTS — offer of compromise — whether offer including "costs as agreed or assessed" is compliant with UCPR, r 20.26 Legislation Cited: Local Court Act 2007 (NSW), ss 39, 40 Uniform Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 56 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 20.26 Cases Cited: Acuthan v Coates (1986) 6 NSWLR 472 Adami v The Queen (1959) 108 CLR 605; [1959] HCA 70 Andar Transport Pty Ltd v Brambles Ltd (2004) 217 CLR 424; [2004] HCA 28 BP Refinery (Westernport) Pty Ltd v Hastings Shire Council [1977] 52 ALJR 20 Codelfa Construction Pty Ltd v State Rail Authority of New South Wales (1982) 149 CLR 337; [1982] HCA 24 Curtis v Harden Shire Council (No 2) [2015] NSWCA 45 Dailhou v Kelly (No 3) [2014] NSWSC 1220 Dare v Pulham (1982) 148 CLR 658; [1982] HCA 70 Edlin v Williams [2000] ANZConvR 43 Falconer v Wilson [1973] 2 NSWLR 131 Gerlach v Clifton Bricks Pty Limited (2002) 209 CLR 478; [2002] HCA 22 Grant v Grant; Grant v Grant (No. 3) [2021] NSWSC 1 Jeans v Cleary [2006] NSWSC 647 Old v McInnes and Hodgkinson [2011] NSWCA 410 R v Doney [2001] NSWCCA 463; (2001) 126 A Crim R 271 R v Knight [2001] NSWCCA 114 Singh v De Castro [2017] NSWCA 241 Wang v Farkas (2014) 85 NSWLR 390; [2014] NSWCA 29 Whitney v Dream Developments Pty Ltd [2013] NSWCA 188 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Rebecca Haria Ye (First Plaintiff) Ucer Investment and Resources Management Pty Ltd (Second Plaintiff) Yu Chen (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: A Cheema (Plaintiffs) J Harrison (Defendant)