Ritchie v Woodward (Executor of the Estate of the late Brian Patrick Woodward); Rujo Pty Ltd v Woodward (Executor of the Estate of the late Brian Patrick Woodward); Barona Group Pty Ltd v Woodward (Executor of the Estate of the late Brian Patrick Woodward) [2016] NSWSC 1715

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Ritchie v Woodward (Executor of the Estate of the late Brian Patrick Woodward); Rujo Pty Ltd v Woodward (Executor of the Estate of the late Brian Patrick Woodward); Barona Group Pty Ltd v Woodward (Executor of the Estate of the late Brian Patrick Woodward) [2016] NSWSC 1715 Hearing dates: 09/05/16, 10/05/16, 11/05/16, 12/05/16, 13/05/16, 16/05/16, 17/05/16, 18/05/16, 19/05/16, 20/05/16, 23/05/16, 24/05/16, 25/05/16, 26/05/16, 27/05/16, 30/05/16, 01/06/16, 02/06/16 and 03/06/16 Decision date: 12 December 2016 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Emmett AJA Decision: Direct that no later than 16 December 2016 the defendants bring in short minutes of order giving effect to my conclusions and, if there is any dispute as to costs, providing a timetable for submissions on all outstanding questions of costs. Catchwords: CONTRACTS – plaintiffs invested in series of hotel businesses due to advice from their accountant and subsequently lost entire investment – accountant allegedly promised to secure loans that the plaintiffs had made to the businesses but did not – plaintiffs allege that if they had been told that loans weren't secured that they could have taken steps to recover their investment – implied terms – whether contract of retainer with accountant contained certain implied terms about plaintiffs being informed about all financial matters relevant to financial affairs of plaintiff and conflicts of interest – contractual promise of degree of care, skill and diligence – whether accountant breached contractual promise in retainer to exercise degree of care, skill and diligence that it was reasonable to expect of a competent chartered accountant in performing such a retainer – whether there was a promise to secure loans – whether there was failure to secure loans – in what capacity was accountant acting when loans were made and promise to secure the loans was made – whether failure to secure loans and failure to inform plaintiffs constituted contractual breach – causation – whether accountant's actions caused financial loss to the plaintiffs – whether investment and/or loans could have been recovered in any case – whether cross-collateralisation of hotels caused any financial loss – breach – whether advice to invest constituted breach of contractual promise in retainer to exercise degree of care, skill and diligence – whether accountant should have performed due diligence – whether accountant should have relied on valuations of hotel – whether accountant should have shown plaintiffs business plan for the hotels – whether fourth and fifth defendants breached their contract of retainer for failing to provide ongoing monitoring services to plaintiffs