David William Pallas & Julie Ann Pallas as trustees for the Pallas Family Superannuation Fund v Lendlease Corporation Ltd

The parties to this proceeding were David William Pallas and Julie Ann Pallas, as trustees for the Pallas Family Superannuation Fund (the applicants), and Lendlease Corporation Ltd (the respondent). The dispute concerned the conduct of representative proceedings, specifically the court's power to order that notice be given to group members. The matter came before the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether it should depart from its previous decision in *Wigmans v AMP Ltd* (2020) 102 NSWLR 199; [2020] NSWCA 104, in light of a subsequent Full Court of the Federal Court decision in *Parkin v Boral Ltd* (2022) 291 FCR 116; [2022] FCAFC 47, which had characterised the *Wigmans* decision as "plainly wrong". The Court was also required to consider the principles of statutory interpretation, particularly whether general words in a statute should be read down to conform with surrounding provisions and the purpose of the legislation.

The Court of Appeal determined that it was not bound by the Full Federal Court's characterisation of its own prior decision. The Court analysed the relevant legislation and its purpose, concluding that the general words in the legislation should not be read down. The Court found that the *Wigmans* decision remained good law and that the Full Federal Court's characterisation was erroneous. The Court also considered the specific proposed notice, which referred to an intention to apply for an order excluding group members who had neither opted out nor registered from receiving a potential prospective settlement sum.

The Court of Appeal answered the separate question, stated by Ball J on 13 September 2023, pursuant to Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 28.2, in the negative.