Care A2 Plus Pty Ltd v Pichardo

Care A2 Plus Pty Ltd (the applicant) sought an interim freezing order against Mr Pichardo (the respondent) pending the determination of an appeal. The application was heard by Simpson AJA in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the applicant's contention that a freezing order was necessary to prevent the respondent from dissipating assets, thereby frustrating the potential success of an appeal.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the applicant had established a "good arguable case" in relation to the appeal, and whether there was a demonstrable danger that any prospective judgment in favour of the applicant would be wholly or partly unsatisfied if the order were not made. These issues were to be determined by reference to the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) rr 25.11 and 25.14.

Simpson AJA found that the applicant had failed to establish either of the necessary preconditions for the grant of a freezing order. Specifically, the court concluded that a good arguable case had not been demonstrated, nor had the applicant satisfied the court that there was a real risk of dissipation of assets that would render a future judgment nugatory. Consequently, the application for the freezing order was dismissed. The applicants were ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the application.