Wellington City Council High Court judgment for damages of $1.9 million (plus costs) against the Council for negligent inspection and grant of code compliance in respect of a four unit townhouse development.

Successful defence of a $10 million negligence claim against our client, a forklift company, which was being blamed for a large warehouse fire. In the course of a lengthy defended High Court hearing the plaintiffs discontinued their claims against our client.

Successful civil case over house sale misrepresentations. The defendant kept a $120,000 deposit even though our clients validly cancelled the sale when they learned the house had serious weathertightness issues, contrary to the defendant’s misrepresentations made directly or through third parties. The defendant was then made bankrupt after failing to pay the debt, which had swelled to over $323,000. The defendant’s appeals were subsequently abandoned.

The NZ High Court approved a proposed product liability class action against James Hardie in respect of its Harditex cladding product. The Court of Appeal upheld those orders, finding that issues of causation and damage were not a bar to a class (or representative) claim, and allowed 5 months for homeowners with Harditex clad homes to join the claim.