King v Benecke [2014] NSWCA 399

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: King v Benecke [2014] NSWCA 399 Hearing dates: 25 and 26 August 2014 Decision date: 24 November 2014 Before: Basten JA at [1]; Macfarlan JA at [31]; Ward JA at [115] Decision: Appeal dismissed with costs. [Note: The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide (Rule 36.11) that unless the Court otherwise orders, a judgment or order is taken to be entered when it is recorded in the Court's computerised court record system. Setting aside and variation of judgments or orders is dealt with by Rules 36.15, 36.16, 36.17 and 36.18. Parties should in particular note the time limit of fourteen days in Rule 36.16.] Catchwords: TORTS - professional negligence - appellant retained respondent solicitors to act in transactions concerning shareholdings in family farming and grazing business - causation - whether respondents' breaches of duty and retainer caused appellant economic loss - whether appellant's concern about his legal position caused him to pay more under settlement agreement than he would otherwise have paid - no basis for appellate intervention established - appeal dismissed Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), ss 5A, 5D, 5E Cases Cited: Fox v Percy [2003] HCA 22; 214 CLR 118 Hunt & Hunt Lawyers v Mitchell Morgan Nominees Pty Ltd [2013] HCA 10; 247 CLR 613 Category: Principal judgment Parties: George Berkeley Ewart King (Appellant) Ian John Benecke (First Respondent) Stephen Edward Martin (Second Respondent) Brenden John Miller (Third Respondent) Michael Geoffrey Anthony Holden (Fourth Respondent) Representation: Counsel: A J McInerney SC/M F Newton (Appellant) I Pike SC/J J Hutton (Respondents) Solicitors: Thompson Eslick Solicitors (Appellant) Yeldham Price O'Brien Lusk (Respondents) File Number(s): CA 2013/277479 Decision under appeal Jurisdiction: 9111 Citation: King v Benecke [2013] NSWSC 568 Date of Decision: 2013-08-23 00:00:00 Before: Harrison J File Number(s): SC 2009/297857