Michael Wilson & Partners Limited v Nicholls & Ors [2011] HCATrans 28

This matter concerned an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. The applicants, Michael Wilson & Partners Limited and others, sought to challenge the Federal Court's judgment concerning alleged breaches of fiduciary duties and misleading and deceptive conduct. The respondents were Mr. Nicholls and others.

The High Court was required to consider whether the Federal Court had erred in its findings regarding the existence and nature of fiduciary duties owed by the respondents to the applicants, and whether there had been contraventions of the *Trade Practices Act 1974* (Cth) through misleading or deceptive conduct. Specifically, the applicants sought to argue that the Federal Court had misapplied the relevant legal principles in assessing the alleged breaches.

The High Court, in granting special leave to appeal, indicated that the case raised important questions concerning the scope of fiduciary duties in commercial relationships and the application of consumer protection provisions. The Court noted that the appeal would likely involve a detailed examination of the evidence and the legal tests applied by the lower courts in determining whether fiduciary obligations had been breached and whether the conduct in question was misleading or deceptive. The Court did not deliver substantive reasons for granting special leave at this stage, but the decision to grant it signals that the High Court considered the issues raised to be of sufficient importance to warrant a full hearing.