CASE NOTES (BLOG)

What does the Human Rights Bill mean for you?

The Human Rights Bill has passed in Queensland, to a shower of press releases and accolades.  But what does it mean for you and your clients? At a basic level, the Bill identifies 23 human rights, ranging from civil and political rights to economic, social and cultural rights.  It introduces a number of systems and procedures to ensure that these rights are safeguarded.

Don’t let the cat out of the bag: keeping client lists confidential at all times.

Isaac v Dargan Financial Pty Ltd ATF The Dargan Financial Discretionary Trust (ABN 68 702 047 521) (trading under the name of Home Loan Experts) [2018] NSWCA 163

Building a business and client-database is no easy task.  When an employee or contractor leaves, or threatens to leave, the names and contact details of clients assume supreme value. The fear is that this confidential information will fall into the hands of a competitor or the departing employee or contractor will use it for their own gain.

The first question is whether there were appropriate safeguards for this information during the employment or contractual relationship: for example, were client details password-protected and only imparted to employees or subcontractors under an express obligation of confidence, such as a confidentiality agreement?  Were the employees only allowed to store client information on company-issued mobile phones or had their client relationships become enmeshed in their social media?

However, what happens if there is a dispute and these client lists are attached to an Affidavit, putting them into the public domain and into the hands of a competitor?  A recent decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal demonstrates that simply attaching the client details to an Affidavit is […]

By |August 18th, 2018|Categories: Uncategorized|0 Comments

Civil procedure case update: Step in a proceeding

Mathieson v Lawson [2018] QSC 154

The defendants had brought an application to dismiss the plaintiff’s claim for want of prosecution. Leave had been granted nunc pro tunc to the plaintiff to bring derivative proceedings on behalf of the seventh defendant which was in liquidation at the time. The other defendants were not joined as parties to that proceeding.

The plaintiff sought to rely on the order made in that proceeding against the seventh defendant as a “step in the proceeding” within the UCPR contending that the order served the purpose of conferring leave to proceed for the purpose of both s 237 and s 500 of the Corporations Act, and further for the purpose of UCPR 371(2).

The court rejected that contention, concluding that an order made in a differently constituted proceeding could not be a “step in the proceedings”.

By |July 23rd, 2018|Categories: Uncategorized|0 Comments
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