El-Sayed v Golan

In the District Court of New South Wales, El-Sayed (the plaintiff) brought proceedings against Golan (the defendant) concerning a dispute arising from a contract for the sale of a business. The plaintiff sought to recover damages for alleged breaches of contract.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the defendant had breached the terms of the sale agreement, and if so, what damages were recoverable by the plaintiff. Specifically, the court had to determine if certain representations made by the defendant regarding the business's financial performance constituted contractual terms or mere puffery, and whether the plaintiff had suffered loss as a result of any such breaches.

Judge Heffernan found that the defendant had made representations that amounted to warranties concerning the business's profitability. The court reasoned that these warranties had been breached, as the business's actual performance did not meet the representations made. Applying principles of contract law, the court concluded that the plaintiff was entitled to damages to compensate for the loss suffered due to the defendant's breaches. The court ordered the defendant to pay damages to the plaintiff.