The Court granted summary judgment enforcing a US District Court judgment at common law, holding that the defendant's claim of equitable set-off based on alleged misleading or deceptive conduct under s 18 of the ACL did not constitute an arguable defence. Palmer J found that even if a triable case of misleading or deceptive conduct had been established, the cross-claim for damages equivalent to the foreign judgment was too far removed from the enforcement claim to satisfy the 'sufficiently close connection' requirement for equitable set-off, and it would not be unjust to allow enforcement given the defendant could have raised the alleged misrepresentations in the US proceedings. The Court left open but expressed doubt about whether equitable set-off is even available as a defence to enforcement of a foreign judgment, noting the limited and well-established categories of recognised defences.
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