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ARTICLE · 12 APRIL 2013

Proportionate liability: Vella decision overturned by Australian High Court

DLA Piper Australia
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The decision provides much needed guidance to those seeking to rely on proportionate liability protections in Australia.

AustraliaInsurance
Kerry Hogan-Ross
Kerry Hogan-Ross
James Morse
James Morse
Natasha Stojanovich
Natasha Stojanovich

HUNT & HUNT LAWYERS V MITCHELL MORGAN NOMINEES PTY LTD & ORS

SNAPSHOT

On 3 April 2013, the High Court of Australia handed down its decision in Hunt & Hunt Lawyers v Mitchell Morgan Nominees Pty Ltd1 . The decision related to an appeal by Hunt & Hunt Lawyers (Hunt & Hunt) from the judgment of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in Mitchell Morgan Nominees Pty Ltd & Anor v Vella & Ors [2011] NSWCA 390.

A key issue in the judgment was the interpretation of several key proportionate liability provisions in the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) (CLA) and equivalent provisions in other Australian jurisdictions.

To determine whether Hunt & Hunt was a concurrent wrongdoer, the court had regard to two questions:

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