Idoport Pty Ltd & Anor v National Australia Bank Ltd & 8 Ors; Idoport Pty Ltd v Market Holdings Pty Ltd v Donald Robert Argus; Idoport Pty Ltd "JMG" v National Australia Bank Ltd [19] [2001] NSWSC 246

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Idoport Pty Ltd & Anor v National Australia Bank Ltd & 8 Ors; Idoport Pty Ltd v Market Holdings Pty Ltd v Donald Robert Argus; Idoport Pty Ltd "JMG" v National Australia Bank Ltd [19] [2001] NSWSC 246 FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 50113/98; 50026/99; 3991/00 HEARING DATE(S) : 27/02/01, 28/02/01, 21/3/01, 22/3/01, 26/3/01, 28/3/01, 2/4/01, 3/4/01 JUDGMENT DATE : 10 April 2001

Idoport Pty Ltd (Plaintiff) PARTIES : Market Holdings Pty Ltd (Plaintiff) National Australia Bank Ltd (Defendant) Donald Robert Argus (Defendant) JUDGMENT OF : Einstein J

COUNSEL : JJ Garnsey QC, R Alkadamani (Plaintiffs) JA Halley (Defendants) SOLICITORS : Withnell Hetherington (Plaintiffs) Freehills (Defendants) CATCHWORDS : Evidence Act (1995) - Evidence - Admissibility - Opinion evidence - Expert opinion - Section 79 - Specialised knowledge - Whether an opinion is wholly or substantially based on specialised knowledge based on training, study or experience LEGISLATION CITED : Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) CASES CITED : Idoport Pty Ltd v National Australia Bank Limited [2001] NSWSC 123 DECISION : Mr Martin held to have demonstrated by his training, study or experience that he has acquired specialised knowledge on which to base, whether wholly or substantially, his opinions: as to the degree of difficulty and effort necessary to customise Ausmaq from a systems/IT perspective to enable it to operate effectively in financial services markets in countries other than Australia and New Zealand (category D1.1); relating to design, specification, formulation and functionality of computer systems and software in relation to languages other than English and French (category D1.2); from an IT or systems perspective relating to the functionality of a Master Trust (category D3.1); relating to a comparison of the Ausmaq Service and a Master Trust related to his technical expertise at the level of business strategy and objectives (category D4.1); relating to the features of commercially available internet banking packages and the possibility of interfacing Ausmaq with these packages (category D5.1); from an IT or systems perspective in relation to a program designed to achieve a shift from a branch based retail banking service to a customer focused, globally integrated service including: ATM and EFTPOS services, Customer Response Centres including IVR and internet banking (category D6.1); as to a comparison between development times and required levels of design and programming skill for strict real-time process control systems and 4th Generation Programming Languages (category D9.1); in reply to Professor Thomas (paragraph 195); and as to how dividend reinvestment could be effected in the Ausmaq system. Leave reserved to the plaintiffs to supplement Mr Martin's evidence in relation to a number of matters relevant to questions of admissibility of certain opinions particularly going to whether the Ausmaq Service as it existed in the Ausmaq system at particular dates could have been enhanced, modified or added to, if necessary, so that the Bank Services had or would have had equivalent or similar functionality to the Ausmaq Service.