Two Lands Services Pty Limited & 1 Ors v Gregory Robert Cave [2000] NSWSC 14

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Two Lands Services Pty Limited & 1 Ors v Gregory Robert Cave [2000] NSWSC 14 CURRENT JURISDICTION: Equity FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 3148/99 HEARING DATE(S) : 07/10/1999 JUDGMENT DATE : 10 February 2000

Two Lands Services Pty Limited (ACN 068 592 941) (First Plaintiff) PARTIES : Two Lands Group Pty Limited ACN 073 252 061 (Second Plaintiff) Gregory Robert Cave (Defendant) JUDGMENT OF : Santow J

COUNSEL : S J Burchett (Plaintiffs) R W Tregenza (Defendant) SOLICITORS : McCabes Laywers (Plaintiffs) Williams - The Law Firm (Defendant) CATCHWORDS : TRADE — Residual Matters — Restraint of trade by Agreement — Mortgage origination business involving cultivation of "referrers" of business with long lead-time to referred business — Reasonableness of constraint on post-employment contact with referrers and clients for twelve months — Reasonableness of constraint on working for similar business in New South Wales — Other constraints — Effect of s4 of the Restraints of Trade Act 1976 (NSW) directed to actual not imaginary breaches — Principles of construction — Constraint on contacting specified banks and insurance companies unreasonable — List of referrers and their ratings not a trade secret but entitled to protection under contractual stipulation — Relief requires election between damages or an account of profits — Necessary degree of fiduciary fault for latter. LEGISLATION CITED : Restraints of Trade Act 1976 (NSW) s4 A Buckle & Son Pty Ltd v McAllister (1986) 4 NSWLR 426 Canadian Aero Service Ltd v O'Malley (1973) 40 DLR(3d) 371 Daly Smith Corporation (Australia) Pty Ltd v Cray Personnel Pty Ltd (Young J, NSWSC, 14 April 1997, unreported) K A & C Pty Limited v Ward (1998) 45 NSWLR 702 CASES CITED : Lever v Godwin (1887) 36 ChD 1 Orton v Melman [1981] 1 NSWLR 583 Sherk v Horwitz [1972] 2 AR 451 SSC & B: Lintas NZ Ltd v Murphy (1986) 3 NZCLC 99 Wright v Gasweld Pty Limited (1991) 22 NSWLR 317 DECISION : Restraint upheld and enforced.