Owners – Strata Plan 11011 v Integrated Project Services Pty Ltd [2015] NSWSC 553

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Owners – Strata Plan 11011 v Integrated Project Services Pty Ltd [2015] NSWSC 553 Hearing dates: Monday, 27 April 2015 Decision date: 28 April 2015 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: White J Decision: Refer to para [55] of judgment. Catchwords: LEGAL PRACTITIONERS – obtaining instructions from owners' corporation – director of lot owners with minority interest in plaintiff owners' corporation appointed as representative to provide instructions in relation to litigation – other lot owners with majority interest purported to instruct lawyers to settle the dispute at an invalidly held meeting contrary to representative's instructions –representative's authority has not been revoked – whether plaintiff's solicitors and barrister were required to follow representative's or majority lot owners' instructions – whether representative's instructions were improperly given – held that the plaintiff's solicitors and barrister were obliged to follow instructions properly given by the representative, and that there was nothing improper in the representative taking a position contrary to that taken by lot owners with a majority interest

STRATA SCHEMES – conferral of authority on individual to conduct litigation by owners' corporation – plaintiff owners' corporation purported to "delegate the authority" to provide instructions to solicitors in relation to litigation to an individual –whether that delegation contravened s 13(3) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 (NSW) – whether the individual was employed to assist the owners' corporation within s 13(1) of the act – held that the conferral of authority was not a delegation of the owners' corporation's functions under s 13(3), and held that the concept of employment in s 13(1) of the act extends beyond appointing individuals as employees, so that the individual here was authorised under s 13(1) by the owners' corporation's resolution to instruct the owners' corporation's lawyers and to give the usual undertaking as to damages on behalf of the owners' corporation, but not to terminate the lawyers' retainer Legislation Cited: Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 (NSW) Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Owners – Strata Plan 11011 (Plaintiff) Integrated Project Services Pty Ltd (1st Defendant) L & C's Treasure Pty Limited (2nd Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Ms J Wright (Plaintiff) Mr J Ziade (Representative for the Plaintiff) Mr D Currie (Defendant)