Koman v The Guitar Gym Pty Ltd - [2012] QCATA 195

CITATION:

Koman v The Guitar Gym Pty Ltd and Anor [2012] QCATA 195

PARTIES:	Laura Koman (Applicant/Appellant)
v
The Guitar Gym Pty Ltd (First Respondent) John Roland Freiberg (Second Respondent)

APPLICATION NUMBER:

APL068-12

MATTER TYPE:

Appeals

HEARING DATE:

On the papers

HEARD AT:

Brisbane

DECISION OF:

Richard Oliver, Senior Member

DELIVERED ON:

10 October 2012

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

ORDERS MADE:

Leave to appeal is refused.

CATCHWORDS:

Minor civil dispute – where applicant contends the parties entered to a contract for the supply of marketing services by the applicant – where agreement said to be oral and written – whether the evidence supports a finding that the parties intended to create legal relations – whether agreement that the marketing costs to be offset by the provision of guitar lessons by the respondent

Queensland Civil and Administrative TribunalAct2009, s 142(3)

QUYD Pty Ltd v Marvass Pty Ltd [2009] 1 Qd R 41
Cachia v Grech [2009] NSWCA 232
Glenwood Properties Pty Ltd v Delmoss Pty Ltd [1986] 2 Qd R 388
McIver Bulk Liquid Haulage Pty Ltd v Fruehauf Australia Pty Ltd [1989] 2 Qd R 577

APPEARANCES and REPRESENTATION (if any):

This matter was heard and determined on the papers pursuant to s 32 of Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act2009 (QCAT Act).

REASONS FOR DECISION

Mr Freiberg is a director of the Guitar Gym Pty Ltd. In November 2008 he started to provide guitar lessons to Ms Koman and her children. Soon after (December 2008), Ms Koman and Mr Freiberg began a relationship and Mr Freiberg started to provide her children with free guitar lessons and reduced to cost base fee lessons for Ms Koman.
Ms Koman is qualified in and has sound background in business marketing. During the relationship over a two year period, Ms Koman provided some marketing advice to Mr Frieberg to assist him in developing his business.
When the relationship came to an end in November 2010, Ms Koman undertook an exercise whereby she calculated what would have been the cost of guitar lessons to her and the children and offset that against what she assessed to be the value of her contribution to the marketing of Mr Freiberg’s business. On 20 February 2011 Ms Koman rendered an invoice to the respondent for $26,415.00. Mr Freiberg did not pay contending there was no agreement about the provision of marketing services, no agreement about an hourly rate of $65/hr for such services and finally he did not agree to any contra arrangement whereby he would provides guitar lessons without charge. Ms Koman then filed an application for minor civil dispute – minor debt in the Tribunal on 21 April 2011.
On 19 January 2012 the matter was heard before a tribunal Adjudicator. After hearing evidence from the parties, and reviewing the emails relating to a possible contra-agreement, the learned Adjudicator found that there was no contract between the parties. He specifically made references to Ms Koman’s responses to emails rejecting offers of payment…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Koman v The Guitar Gym Pty Ltd

Details

AGLC: Koman v The Guitar Gym Pty Ltd and Anor [2012] QCATA 195
Case: [2012] QCATA 195
Decision Date: 10 October 2012

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case of Koman v The Guitar Gym Pty Ltd involved a dispute in the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South South Wales. Koman, the applicant, claimed that an agreement existed between the parties whereby they would supply marketing services to each other. Specifically, Koman alleged that he would provide marketing services to The Guitar Gym, and in return, the Guitar Gym would provide him with guitar lessons. The Guitar Gym denied any such agreement. The nature of the dispute centred on whether the evidence supported a finding that the parties intended to create legal relations and whether an agreement existed that the marketing costs would be offset by the provision of guitar lessons.

The legal issues before the court included whether an enforceable contract existed between the parties, and if so, what its terms were. The court needed to determine if the evidence supported the existence of an oral or written agreement that the parties intended to be legally binding. A key issue was whether the applicant's marketing services were to be compensated by the provision of guitar lessons from the respondent. The court needed to consider the intention of the parties and whether there was sufficient evidence to support the existence of a binding agreement.

The tribunal concluded that the evidence did not support a finding that the parties intended to create legal relations. The court found that while there may have been discussions about the potential for a mutually beneficial arrangement, these discussions did not amount to a binding agreement. The court emphasised the need for clear evidence of mutual intent and the intention to be legally bound. Given the lack of concrete evidence of an agreement, the tribunal dismissed the applicant's claims.

No further appeal was allowed. The tribunal ruled that the evidence was insufficient to establish a legally binding contract between the parties. The court's decision was based on the absence of clear evidence that the parties intended to be legally bound by their discussions. The final orders were that leave to appeal was refused, and the applicant's claims were dismissed.

Orders

Orders of the court

Leave to appeal is refused.

Background

Background to the litigation

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Evidence

Evidence Before The Court

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Decision

Reasons for decision

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Ratio Decidendi

Legal Principle Established

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