Bird v Stonham trading as John Stonham & Co. Lawyers [2019] NSWDC 419

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Bird v Stonham trading as John Stonham & Co. Lawyers [2019] NSWDC 419 Hearing dates: 7 – 8 August 2019 Date of orders: 15 August 2019 Decision date: 15 August 2019 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Abadee DCJ Decision: See paragraph 210 Catchwords: TORTS – professional negligence – alleged negligence of solicitor – alleged negligence in failure to advise or warn about risks of prospective professional negligence suit against former solicitor – whether impugned acts within or incidental to retainer – scope of duty of care – advocates' immunity – whether duty of care breached.

TRADE PRACTICES – misleading or deceptive conduct – representation as to experience and expertise to conduct professional negligence suit – whether representation misleading or deceptive – whether putative misleading or deceptive conduct within scope of advocates' immunity.

DAMAGES – causation – whether alleged negligence or misleading conduct caused loss or damage – where causation depends upon proof of hypothetical conduct of judicial officer – whether 'loss of opportunity' basis for award is available on the pleading. Legislation Cited: Australian Consumer Law Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) Education Act 1990 (NSW) Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) Cases Cited: Artahs Pty Ltd v Gall Standfield & Smith (A Firm) [2013] 2 Qd R 202 Attwells v Jackson Lalic Lawyers Pty Ltd (2016) 259 CLR 1 Bird v Campbelltown Anglican Council Schools [2007] NSWSC 1419 Bird v Ford [2013] NSWSC 264 Bird v Ford [2014] NSWCA 242 Chamberlain v Ormsby t/as Ormsby Flower [2005] NSWCA 454 Charles Phillip Bird by his tutor Vrede Jane Bird v Campbelltown Anglican Schools Council [2007] NSWSC 1419 Commonwealth of Australia v Amann Aviation Pty Ltd (1991) 174 CLR 64 D'Orta –Ekenaike v Victoria Legal Aid (2005) 223 CLR 1 David v David [2009] NSWCA 8 Dominic v Riz [2009] NSWCA 216 Donnellan v Woodland [2012] NSW ConvR 56-307 Firth v Sutton [2010] NSWCA 90 Ford & Pritchard v Bird & Bird (District Court of NSW, Curtis J, Unreported, 12 June 2009) Giannarelli v Wraith (1988) 165 CLR 543 Heydon v NRMA Ltd (2000) 51 NSWLR 1 Hunt & Hunt Lawyers v Mitchell Morgan (2013) 247 CLR 613 Hyland v Campbell (1995) Aust Torts Rep 81-352 Keddie v Stacks/Goudkamp (2012) 293 ALR 764 Keefe v Marks (1989) 16 NSWLR 713 Kendirjian v Lepore [2017] HCA 13 Lucantonio v Kleinert [2009] NSWSC 853 Nikolaidis v Satouris [2014] NSWCA 448 Provident Capital Ltd v Papa (2013) 84 NSWLR 231 Sellars v Adelaide Petroleum (1994) 179 CLR 332 Sims v Chong [2015] FCAFC 80 South West Sydney Local Health District v Gould [2018] NSWCA 69 Sparks v Hobson [2018] NSWCA 29 Trust Co Australia v Perpetual Trustees WA (1997) 42 NSWLR 237 Young v Hones [2014] NSWCA 337 Texts Cited: Walmsley, Abadee, Zipser, Sirtes, Professional Liability in Australia, 3rd ed Category: Principal judgment Parties: Ms Bird (Plaintiff) Mr Stonham (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff, in person Mr A Zahra (Defendant)