Guild Insurance Limited t/as Acerta v DH BI Pty Ltd [2022] NSWSC 524

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Guild Insurance Limited t/as Acerta v DH BI Pty Ltd [2022] NSWSC 524 Hearing dates: 29 April 2022 Decision date: 29 April 2022 Jurisdiction: Equity - Commercial List Before: Ball J Decision: 1. Paragraphs C31-C35 of the Defendant's Commercial List Response filed 9 February 2022 be struck out. 2. The Defendant pay the Plaintiff's costs of this motion. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Pleadings — Striking out — No reasonable cause of action or defence — Application to strike out pleading asserting novel duty of care between solicitor of the defendant insured and the plaintiff insurer Cases Cited: Badenach v Calvert (2016) 257 CLR 440 Caltex Refineries (Qld) Pty Ltd v Stavar (2009) 75 NSWLR 649 McFee v Reilly [2018] NSWCA 322 White v Jones [1995] 2 AC 207 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Guild Insurance Limited t/as Acerta (Plaintiff) DH BI Pty Ltd (Defendant | Cross-Claimant) Dentons Australia Limited (Cross-Defendant) Representation: Counsel: AJ Barnett (Plaintiff) L Chan (Defendant)

Solicitors: Meridian Lawyers (Plaintiff) McInnes Wilson Lawyers (Defendant | Cross-Claimant) K&L Gates (Cross-Defendant) File Number(s): 2021/361664 Publication restriction: None

Judgment 1. By a notice of motion filed on 14 April 2022, the plaintiff, Guild Insurance Limited (Guild), sought to strike out certain paragraphs of the commercial list response filed by the defendant, DH BI Pty Ltd, on 9 February 2022 that raise a concurrent wrongdoer defence. I made that order. These are my reasons for doing so.