Pridham v Archer [2012] NSWSC 752

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Pridham v Archer [2012] NSWSC 752 Hearing dates: 25/06/2012 Decision date: 25 June 2012 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Garling J Decision: Order the defendants to pay the plaintiff's costs of and occasioned by the adjournment on an indemnity basis. Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - adjournment application - application based on psychiatric disability of defendant - right to defend proceedings - adjournment granted Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Andrew Pridham Anita Archer Representation: G M Watson SC / J Hogan-Doran (P) S T Pitt (D) Greenwich Legal (P) Mills Oakley Lawyers (D) File Number(s): 2011/00236676

EX TEMPORE Judgment 1This is an application by notice of motion by the defendants seeking an adjournment of the proceedings listed for hearing today. The application is opposed.

The Proceedings 2The proceedings involve a claim relating to the sale by the defendants to the plaintiff and the purchase by the plaintiff of an artwork said to have been painted by the late Brett Whiteley entitled "Lavender Bay". The painting was sold by the defendants to the plaintiff in late 2007 for the sum of $2.5 million. 3The plaintiff claims that, contrary to representations made at the time by the defendants, the artwork is in fact a forgery and is not by Brett Whiteley at all. In support of his claim, the plaintiff adduces evidence from an expert that, the plaintiff submits, leads to the inevitable conclusion that the painting is a forgery. 4The plaintiff claims that because the painting is a forgery he has lost a considerable sum of money which represented the purchase price and various associated costs which have been wasted including insurance, transport and the like.