Misleading and deceptive conduct in the sale of a business

September 08, 2023 by JW in Civil Procedure, Commercial Court, Contracts, Misleading and deceptive, Court of Appeal, Section 236 ACL damages, Sale of business

Disputes regarding falsified figures from the sale of a business are commonplace in commercial litigation. The allegation is frequently heard that a vendor has misrepresented the amount of sales and profits from their business in order to “fatten the pig for market”. The Victorian Court of Appeal recently delivered a decision in H & Q Cafe Pty Ltd v Melbourne Cafe Pty Ltd & Anor [2023] VSCA 200 which contains important learnings for those involved in sale of business disputes.

New Supreme Court filing fees from 1 October 2018

September 30, 2018 by JW in Procedure, Supreme Court of Victoria, Filing Fees, Supreme Court (Fees) Regs

Effective today, the Supreme Court implements new fees payable under new regulations.

Statutory demands: Court of Appeal affirms principles for setting aside in recent cases

March 08, 2018 by JW in Statutory Demands, Section 459G

This post considers two recent cases in the Victorian Court of Appeal where applications to set aside statutory demands pursuant to section 459G of the Corporations Act were appealed:

1) Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd v Pekell Delaire Holdings Pty Ltd [2017] VSCA 5

2) Go Connect Ltd v Sino Strategic International Ltd (in Liq) [2016] VSCA 315

Both cases affirm the principles applicable in applications to set aside a statutory demand.

Appeals to the Court of Appeal

December 01, 2016 by JW in Supreme Court of Victoria, Procedure

Since the automatic right of appeal to the Victorian Court of Appeal was removed in November 2014, parties wishing to appeal must generally apply for leave to appeal. There is no entitlement to an oral hearing, though one may be requested.