Foote v Barton Property Partnership No 2

The dispute in *Foote v Barton Property Partnership No 2* concerned the binding nature of an expert determination regarding a contract. The parties involved were Foote and Barton Property Partnership No 2. The case came before the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Court of Appeal.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the decision of an expert appointed under the contract was binding, whether the expert had been properly appointed, and whether the parties had waived their entitlement to contest the binding nature of the decision, or elected not to do so, by participating in the expert determination process.

The Court of Appeal held that by participating in the expert determination process, the parties had elected not to contest the binding nature of the expert's decision. This conduct amounted to a waiver of any right to challenge the validity of the appointment or the binding nature of the determination. The Court applied principles of waiver and election, finding that the parties' actions demonstrated a clear intention to be bound by the expert's findings, irrespective of any potential defects in the appointment process.

The appeal was dismissed.