Lend Lease Funds Management t/as Sunshine Plaza v Sawaya

In the matter of Lend Lease Funds Management trading as Sunshine Plaza versus Sawaya, the case was heard in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The dispute pertains to a motion seeking the transfer of proceedings from the District Court of New South Wales to the Supreme Court of Queensland. The applicant, Lend Lease Funds Management, alleges a tort committed in Queensland and asserts that the governing law of Queensland should apply to the proceedings.

The primary legal issues before the court involved the interpretation and application of sections 140(1) of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 and sections 5(2) of the Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-Vesting) Act 1987 (NSW) and 1987 (Qld). Specifically, the court had to determine whether the motion for transfer was valid under these provisions and whether the alleged tort and the governing law cited justified the transfer of the proceedings from the New South Wales Supreme Court to the Supreme Court of Queensland.

The court found that the motion was properly made under the relevant statutory provisions, and that the circumstances of the case, including the location of the alleged tort and the governing law, supported the transfer. The court held that the applicant had satisfied the legal criteria for the transfer, and granted the orders sought by Lend Lease Funds Management. This decision facilitated the continuation of the proceedings in the Supreme Court of Queensland, where the applicable law and the facts of the case would be more appropriately adjudicated.