Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Ekes [2013] NSWSC 1264

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Ekes [2013] NSWSC 1264 Hearing dates: 5 December 2012; 6 February 2013; 27 February 2013; 9 & 10 May 2013 Decision date: 01 November 2013 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Davies J Decision: The parties should bring in Short Minutes. Catchwords: ESTOPPEL - res judicata - issue estoppel - guarantor seeks to defend proceedings and cross-claim relying on issues determined adversely to principal debtor - dismissal of proceedings brought by principal debtor in Federal Court - dismissal by consent - whether issue estoppel - guarantor is sole shareholder and controller of principal debtor company - whether a privy of the company - whether loss sought to be claimed was reflective loss of company PROCEDURE - application to file cross-claim out of time - where applicant consented to orders on numerous occasions to file cross-claim but failed to do so - no satisfactory explanation for failures - consideration of the applicant's approach to the proceedings generally Legislation Cited: Australian Securities And Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth) Civil Procedure Act 2005 Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (C'th) Contracts Review Act 1980 Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) Federal Court Rules Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules Cases Cited: 888 Projects Pty Ltd (Receivers and Managers Appointed) (ACN 121 369 793) v Bank of Western Australia Ltd (ACN 050 494 454) [2010] FCA 296 Australian Associated Motor Insurers Limited v NRMA Insurance Limited [2002] FCA 1061; (2002) 124 FCR 518 Bailey v Marinoff [1971] HCA 49; (1971) 125 CLR 529 Bank of Western Australia Ltd v Tannous (No. 4) [2013] NSWSC 182 Belton v Carlow County Council (1997) 1 IR 172 Chamberlain v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation (1988) 164 CLR 502 Champerslife Pty Ltd v Manojlovski [2010] NSWCA 33; (2010) 75 NSWLR 245 Chen v Karandonis [2002] NSWCA 412 Clegg v Abel (1898) 14 WN (NSW) 131 Costain Australia Limited v State Superannuation Board (Supreme Court of NSW - Brownie J, 22 February 1991, unreported) David Ballard v Multiplex Limited [2008] NSWSC 1019 Effem Foods Pty Ltd v Trawl Industries of Australia Pty Ltd (Receivers and Managers appointed - in liq) (1993) 43 FCR 510 John Alexander's Clubs Pty Ltd v White City Tennis Club Limited [2010] HCA 19; (2010) 241 CLR 1 General Steel Industries (Inc) v Commissioner for Railways (NSW) (1964) 112 CLR 125 Johnson v Gore Wood & Co [2002] 2 AC 1 Port of Melbourne Authority v Anshun Pty Limited (1981) 147 CLR 589 Lloyd's Bank Plc v Independent Insurance Co Ltd [1999] 2 WLR 986 Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v Newman Industries Ltd [No 2] [1982] 1 Ch 204 Ramsay v Pigram (1968) 118 CLR 271 Re Luck [2003] HCA 70; (2003) 203 ALR 1 SCF Finance Co Ltd v Masri (No 3) [1987] QB 1028. Trident General Insurance Co. Ltd v McNiece Bros Pty Ltd (1988) 165 CLR 107 Wickstead v Browne (1992) 30 NSWLR 1 Category: Interlocutory applications Parties: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Plaintiff) Paul Ekes (First Defendant) Hector Ekes (Second Defendant) Representation: Counsel: A McInerney SC (Plaintiff) D Pritchard SC & M Auld (First Defendant) No appearance (Second Defendant) Solicitors: Gadens Lawyers (Plaintiff) Avondale Lawyers (First Defendant) No appearance (Second Defendant) File Number(s): 2010/306145