Dog at the Bridge Pty Ltd v Bridge Bar Investments Pty Ltd

[2017] VSCA 45

Victorian Court of Appeal

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For Australian Law.

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Catchwords

1. Equity
2. › Fiduciary duties
3. › Joint ventures
4. › Circumstances giving rise to fiduciary duties
5. › Whether plaintiff must plead facts showing interest vulnerable to exercise of special power or discretion
6. › Whether legal proposition so clearly correct as to warrant summary judgment
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Leave to appeal
3. › Real prospect of success
4. › Residual discretion to refuse leave
5. › No substantial injustice
6. › Matters of practice and procedure
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Summary judgment
3. › Striking out
4. › Standard for summary disposition
5. › Whether legal analysis could be altered by factual matters at trial

Quick Take

The passage from Mason J in Hospital Products Ltd v United States Surgical Corporation concerning fiduciary duties and vulnerability to the exercise of a special power or discretion does not impose an unqualified pleading requirement in joint venture cases. The legal position as to when fiduciary duties arise in joint ventures remains open to argument and may depend on factual circumstances established at trial. Appeals from interlocutory practice and procedure decisions will be refused where no substantial injustice arises.