Dover v Lewkovitz

In *Dover v Lewkovitz*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an appeal concerning the assignment of a bare right to damages arising under or out of a lease. The assignee was a beneficiary of a discretionary trust which indirectly held shares in the assignor company. The central question was whether the assignee possessed a "genuine commercial interest" in the assigned rights, a requirement for the validity of such an assignment.

The Court was required to determine whether the assignee's interest, derived through a discretionary trust that indirectly owned shares in the assignor, constituted a genuine commercial interest. This involved considering whether it was necessary for the assignee to have a pre-existing legal right against the assignor for such an interest to be recognised, drawing upon principles established in cases such as *Trendex Trading Corporation v Credit Suisse*.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, upholding the primary judge's decision. Their Honours reasoned that the assignee's indirect beneficial interest in the assignor company, through the discretionary trust, was sufficient to establish a genuine commercial interest in the assigned rights. The Court found that the assignee was not merely a stranger seeking to litigate but had a legitimate stake in the outcome due to their connection with the assignor. The appeal was dismissed with costs.