Toppi & Anor v Lavin [2013] NSWSC 1931

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Toppi & Anor v Lavin [2013] NSWSC 1931 Hearing dates: 4 December 2013 Decision date: 20 December 2013 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: White J Decision: Refer to para [34] of judgment. Catchwords: EQUITY - subrogation - plaintiffs and defendant co-sureties - plaintiffs paid more than their share of liability - plaintiffs entitled to contribution from defendant - plaintiffs seek to be subrogated to security given by defendant to creditor - security given by defendant already discharged by settlement between defendant and creditor prior to plaintiffs' payment - whether security kept alive in equity for plaintiffs' benefit - Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1965 s 3 Legislation Cited: Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1965 Usury, Bills of Lading & Memoranda Act 1902 Cases Cited: Paola Toppi v Dolores Lavin [2013] NSWSC 1361 Bofinger v Kingway Group Limited [2009] HCA 44; (2009) 239 CLR 269 D & J Fowler (Aust) Ltd v Bank of New South Wales [1982] 2 NSWLR 879 McColl's Wholesale Pty Limited v State Bank of New South Wales [1984] 3 NSWLR 365 State Bank of NSW v Geeport Developments Pty Ltd (1991) 5 BPR 11,947 Yusen Daly Smith International Pty Ltd v Smith [1999] NSWSC 450 Ghana Commercial Bank v Chandiram [1960] AC 732 Cochrane v Cochrane (1985) 3 NSWLR 403 Williams v Frayne (1937) 58 CLR 710 The Bank of Victoria v Smith (1894) 20 VLR 450 Buckeridge v Mercantile Credits Limited (1981) 147 CLR 654 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Paola Toppi (1st Plaintiff) Neil Cunningham (2nd Plaintiff) Dolores Lavin (Defendant Representation: Counsel: J T Johnson (Plaintiffs) S Golledge with H Durack (Defendant) Solicitors: Beazley Singleton Lawyers (Plaintiffs) Websters Solicitors (Defendant) File Number(s): 2013/303481