ELB Pty Ltd v Lumina Bpo Pty Ltd

ELB Pty Ltd (the appellant) appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision of the primary judge concerning the scope of a written retainer between ELB Pty Ltd and Lumina BPO Pty Ltd (the respondent), who are accountants. The dispute centred on whether the primary judge had erred in concluding that the retainer encompassed all accounting and financial work undertaken for a client of the respondent.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine two principal legal issues. Firstly, whether the primary judge was correct in finding that the written retainer extended to all accounting and financial services provided by the respondent to a particular client. Secondly, the Court had to consider whether the evidence of an accounting partner, stating that certain work was "required" to complete a task, constituted admissible expert opinion evidence.

The Court of Appeal upheld the primary judge's decision. It reasoned that the primary judge had correctly interpreted the scope of the retainer, finding it to be sufficiently broad to cover the work in question. Regarding the opinion evidence, the Court held that the partner's statement, while framed as an opinion, was admissible because it was based on their professional knowledge and experience as an accountant, and was relevant to establishing the nature and necessity of the work performed within the scope of the retainer.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the appeal, including the costs of its notice of contention.