Berry v Kanakis

The appeal concerned a claim in negligence brought by the purchaser of a house against her solicitors. The purchaser alleged that the solicitors had failed to advise her to obtain a building report for the property. The central dispute revolved around whether the purchaser had relied on her solicitors in this regard and, crucially, whether she would have proceeded with the purchase even if she had been advised to obtain a building report. The matter was heard in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge had erred in finding that the purchaser did not rely on her solicitors' advice concerning a building report and whether the trial judge had erred in finding that the purchaser would have proceeded with the purchase of the property regardless of whether she had been advised to obtain such a report. These issues were fundamentally questions of fact.

The Court of Appeal found no error in the trial judge's findings of fact. The trial judge had concluded that the purchaser had not relied on her solicitors in relation to obtaining a building report and that she would have purchased the property even if she had been advised to do so. The Court of Appeal held that these were findings of fact that were open to the trial judge on the evidence presented. As no error of law or fact was demonstrated, the appeal was dismissed.

The appeal was dismissed with costs.