By Alden Ho - 28 Jun 2017
Legal proceedings are time consuming and expensive. This
can be seen to be a waste of resources if you are a defendant
facing hollow claims.
Fortunately, where the issues are clear and the point can be
decided on an interlocutory application as at trial, summary
judgment may be available to a defendant. Summary judgment is a
procedure which allows the Court to give judgment without a full
trial.
In the recent decision of Johnson &
Anor v Armstrong & Ors, we acted for Certified Builders
and successfully obtained summary judgment as the defendant.
In this case, the homeowners claimed that
Certified Builders made representations on its website and building
contract that an automatic guarantee was provided if one of its
members was engaged. Unfortunately for the homeowners, their claims
were not supported by the actual statements made on the website and
building contract. Accordingly, summary judgment was granted.
It is important to note that while summary
judgment is a quick way to dispose of claims, the test is high
since it is a serious thing to stop a plaintiff bringing his or her
claim to trial unless it is clearly hopeless.
Therefore, recognition of appropriate
circumstances for such an application to be made is important.
Contacts
Alden Ho
Geoff Hardy
If you have any questions about summary
judgement, or are in need of litigation advice, contact our
litigation specialists today.Legal proceedings are time
consuming and expensive. This can be seen to be a waste of
resources if you are a defendant facing hollow claims.
Fortunately, where the issues are clear and the
point can be decided on an interlocutory application as at trial,
summary judgment may be available to a defendant. Summary judgment
is a procedure which allows the Court to give judgment without a
full trial.
In the recent decision of Johnson & Anor v
Armstrong & Ors, we acted for Certified Builders and
successfully obtained summary judgement as the defendant.
In this case, the homeowners claimed that Certified
Builders made representations on its website and building contract
that an automatic guarantee was provided if one of its members was
engaged. Unfortunately for the homeowners, their claims were not
supported by the actual statements made on the website and building
contract. Accordingly, summary judgment was granted.
It is important to note that while summary judgment
is a quick way to dispose of claims, the test is high since it is a
serious thing to stop a plaintiff bringing his or her claim to
trial unless it is clearly hopeless.
Therefore, recognition of appropriate circumstances
for such an application to be made is important.
If you have any questions about summary judgement,
or are in need of litigation advice, contact our litigation
specialists today