McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd v Cardno (Qld) Pty Ltd

In the case of McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd v Cardno (Qld) Pty Ltd, the plaintiff sought to refer certain questions of fact to a referee in an attempt to expedite the resolution of the proceedings, which involved claims exceeding $300 million related to the design work undertaken by the defendants on the Gold Coast Light Rail project. The defendants opposed the plaintiff's application, raising concerns about the potential for separate determinations of breach and reliance issues, as well as the possibility of inconsistent findings by the referee or judge.

The court examined the plaintiff's proposal to determine separate questions of fact, which aimed to filter out pre-bid claims by identifying whether any of the defendants' work was found to be incomplete or inaccurate, or if the information in the data room did not identify such inaccuracies. The court noted that the proposed questions would not address causation or reliance issues and might result in inconsistent findings if determined by a judge. The court also considered the potential for the separate question process to be employed at any stage of the proceeding.

After evaluating the submissions from both parties, the court decided to indicate a view on the management of the proceeding with the goal of achieving a just and expeditious resolution of the real issues at a minimum expense. The court made an order to progress the stage one issues and directed the parties to prepare draft orders for disclosure and witness summaries, as well as for the determination of certain claims by one or more referees.

The court's final orders included directives for the parties to prepare draft orders for disclosure and witness summaries, as well as for the determination of certain claims by one or more referees. The court dismissed the plaintiff's application to refer questions of fact to a referee and ordered costs in the cause.