Sutton v Preece [2014] NSWSC 1457

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Sutton v Preece [2014] NSWSC 1457 Hearing dates: 24 and 25 June 2013 (with written submissions, the last of which were filed on 7 September 2013) and 24 October 2014 Decision date: 24 October 2014 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: Lindsay J Decision: (1) Judgment for the plaintiff in the sum of $800,000, together with pre-judgment interest (under the Civil Procedure Act 2005 NSW, s 100) calculated from 1 July 2010. (2) Order that the defendant's cross claim be dismissed. (3) Order that the defendant pay the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings (including the cross claim) on the ordinary basis. Catchwords: PROCEDURE - Supreme court procedure - New South Wales - Jurisdiction and generally - Jurisdiction to determine under s 73 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) whether, and on what terms, proceedings have been settled

CONTRACT - General contractual principles - Construction and interpretation of contracts - Agreement to settle litigation - Terms of agreement to settle litigation

FAMILY LAW AND CHILD WELFARE - Property and maintenance of parties - General - Maintenance and alteration of property interests - proceedings under s 20(1) of the Property (Relationships) Act 1984 (NSW) - Disagreement between parties as to existence and nature of purported settlement of proceedings Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 NSW, ss 73, 90, 100 Contracts Review Act 1980 NSW Property (Relationships) Act 1984 NSW, ss 18(2), 20, 20(1), 44(1), 46, 47, 47(1), 47(1)(b), (d) (e), 47(2), 49, 50 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules, r 36.1 Cases Cited: Rudi's Enterprises Pty Limited v J (1987) 10 NSWLR 568 at 575F-576B Texts Cited: - Category: Principal judgment Parties: Aletta Sutton (Plaintiff/Cross Defendant) Glenn Preece (Defendant/Cross Claimant) Representation: Counsel: Mr AM Gruzman (Plaintiff) Mr RM Jefferis (Defendant), on 24-25 June 2013 Mr D Blackah (Defendant) for written submissions Defendant, self-represented (24 October 2014) Solicitors: Shipton (Plaintiff) Kenneth Harrison (Defendant), on 24-25 June 2013 File Number(s): 2008/277747