Alcoa of Australia Ltd v Apache Energy Ltd

The Federal Court of Australia presided over an application for summary judgment by Alcoa of Australia Ltd against Apache Energy Ltd. Alcoa sued Apache for negligence, alleging a breach of statutory duty and pure economic loss. The plaintiff sought to establish that Apache owed a duty of care to Alcoa, which was breached, leading to economic loss. Alcoa argued that the case turned on its own facts and that there were no genuine issues requiring a trial. Apache responded by arguing that the plaintiff's case was not tenable as a matter of law and sought to strike out the proceeding.

The court examined whether the plaintiff had a tenable case by considering the essential elements of negligence, including the existence of a duty of care, the breach of that duty, and the causation of economic loss. The court also assessed the vulnerability of the plaintiff and the existence of a special relationship with the defendant. The court concluded that the plaintiff's case was not so unsupportable that there was no real prospect of the plaintiff succeeding at trial. The court held that the plaintiff had indeed raised a case for the determination of the merits.

Accordingly, the court dismissed the application for summary judgment and the strike-out application. The case was to proceed to trial to determine the liability of the defendant and the extent of any damages owed to the plaintiff.