Great Southern Funds Management Limited v Lysaght Building Solutions Pty Limited trading as Ranbuild

The case involved Great Southern Funds Management Limited, the plaintiff, and Lysaght Building Solutions Pty Limited trading as Ranbuild, the defendant. The plaintiff claimed damages from the defendant due to alleged breaches of contract, negligence, and for misleading and deceptive conduct. The defendant, in turn, filed a cross-claim against the plaintiff, seeking a declaration that the plaintiff was liable to the defendant in proportion to the damage caused by the plaintiff. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue was whether the defendant was precluded from bringing the cross-claim due to the ambit of the plaintiff's claim. Specifically, the court needed to determine whether the cross-claim fell within the scope of the plaintiff's claim, and if so, whether this precluded the defendant from proceeding with its cross-claim. Another issue was whether the defendant could bring a cross-claim when the cause of damage had not yet been identified, especially when the plaintiff's claim for damages was based on proportionate liability.

The court held that the defendant was not precluded from bringing its cross-claim. The court found that the cross-claim was not necessarily within the scope of the plaintiff's claim, as the plaintiff's claim did not explicitly preclude the defendant from asserting its own claims. The court emphasised that the cross-claim was not precluded merely because it involved a claim for damages based on proportionate liability. The court also held that the defendant was not precluded from bringing the cross-claim simply because the cause of damage had not yet been identified, as the cross-claim could proceed concurrently with the identification of the cause of damage. The court found that the defendant's cross-claim was valid and should proceed.

The court ordered that the defendant's cross-claim was to proceed, and the matter was to be listed for further directions. The court also ordered that the parties were to exchange expert reports on the issues of causation and damages.