Pitcher Partners Holdings Pty Ltd v Twigg [2023] NSWCA 193

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Pitcher Partners Holdings Pty Ltd v Twigg [2023] NSWCA 193 Hearing dates: 25 July 2023 Decision date: 23 August 2023 Before: Meagher JA and Basten AJA at [1]; Adamson JA at [27] Decision: (1) Grant leave to appeal with respect to grounds 1 to 7. (2) Refuse leave to appeal with respect to ground 8. (3) Dismiss the appeal brought on grounds 1 to 7. (4) Order the appellants pay the respondents' costs of the proceedings in this Court. Catchwords: PROCEDURE — application for permanent stay of proceedings — where in earlier proceedings respondent was successful in establishing breach of fiduciary duty against a separate party — where current proceedings seek to establish that applicants are accessorily liable for conduct of other party — whether forensic decision made not to join applicants to earlier proceedings — whether primary judge erred in assessment of prejudice — whether there was delay by respondent in bringing proceedings Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), ss 38, 41, 63, 135, 136 Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), s 101 Cases Cited: Batistatos v Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales (2006) 226 CLR 256; [2006] HCA 27 CBRE (V) Pty Limited v Trilogy Finds Management Limited (2021) 107 NSWLR 202; [2021] NSWCA 316 Ghosh v NineMSN Pty Ltd (2015) 90 NSWLR 595; [2015] NSWCA 334 House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499; [1936] HCA 40 Jago v District Court of New South Wales (1989) 168 CLR 23; [1989] HCA 46 Jeffery & Katauskas Pty Ltd v SST Consulting Pty Ltd (2009) 239 CLR 75; [2009] HCA 43 Lee v Lee (2019) 266 CLR 129; [2019] HCA 28 Mitchell v Cullingral Pty Ltd [2012] NSWCA 389 New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation v Orr (2019) 100 NSWLR 578; [2019] NSWCA 231 Onassis v Vergiottis [1968] 2 Lloyd's Rep 403 Rippon v Chilcotin (2001) 53 NSWLR 198; [2001] NSWCA 142 State Bank of New South Wales Limited v Stenhouse (1997) Aust Torts Reports 81-423 Steinberg v Federal Commissioner of Taxation (Cth) (1975) 134 CLR 640; [1975] HCA 63 Strbak v Newton [1989] NSWCA 202 The Queen v Edwards [2009] HCA 20; (2009) 83 ALJR 717 Twigg v Pitcher Partners Holdings Pty Ltd [2022] NSWSC 1043 Twigg v Twigg (No 4); Lambert v Twigg Investments Pty Ltd (No 3) [2020] NSWSC 1159 Twigg v Twigg (No 6); Lambert v Twigg Investments Pty Ltd (No 5) [2020] NSWSC 1159 Twigg v Twigg [2019] NSWSC 373 Twigg v Twigg [2022] NSWCA 68 UBS AG v Tyne (2018) 265 CLR 77; [2018] HCA 45 Waterways Authority v Fitzgibbon [2005] HCA 57; (2005) 79 ALJR 1816 Watson v Foxman (1995) 49 NSWLR 315 Williams v Spautz (1992) 174 CLR 509; [1992] HCA 34 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Pitcher Partners Holdings Pty Ltd (First Applicant) Pitcher Partners Investment Services Pty Ltd (Second Applicant) Pitcher Partners Advisors Pty Ltd (Third Applicant) Diane Twigg by her tutor Elizabeth Flintoff (First Respondent) Twigg Plant Hire Pty Ltd as trustee for The Twigg Family Trust (Second Respondent) Ipswich Landfill Pty Ltd as trustee for The Ipswich Landfill Trust (Third Respondent) Brooklyn Landfill & Waste Recycling Pty Ltd as trustee for The Brooklyn Landfill Trust (Fourth Respondent) Maxwell James Twigg (Fifth Respondent) Twigg Co Pty Ltd (Sixth Respondent) Representation: Counsel: D L Williams SC / J D Jaffray / N Riordan (Applicants) M R Elliott SC / D K Smith (First to Fourth Respondents) Submitting appearance (Fifth and Sixth Respondents)