A trustee company of a discretionary trust does not claim 'under' or 'through' its controller for the purposes of res judicata estoppel, even where the controller is the company's alter ego. However, where the controller has unsuccessfully litigated claims in earlier proceedings, the commencement of fresh proceedings by the controlled company raising substantially the same issues may constitute an abuse of process if the claims could and should have been raised in or in connection with the earlier proceedings. The focus is on substance over form, and the court will consider whether the continuation of the fresh proceedings would be seriously and unfairly burdensome or unjustifiably oppressive to the defendant.
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