Morgan v Pallister

The Supreme Court of Western Australia was asked to decide whether the plaintiff, David Manston Morgan, was entitled to summary judgment for the sum of $340,000 which he claimed was loaned to the defendant, Vanessa Pallister. The loan was alleged to be repayable on demand, which demand had been made but not met. The defendant admitted receiving the money, admitted it had not been repaid, and admitted it was repayable in certain circumstances. The central issue was whether there was a total failure of consideration, as the technology for which the loan was intended to be used, the "Mobilert technology," was claimed to be unregistrable and of no value. The court considered whether the plaintiff had received any part of the benefit bargained for under the contract. The court found that the purpose of the transaction had failed because the Mobilert technology was never transferred to the company intended to hold it, and the technology was of no value. The court granted summary judgment to the plaintiff but conditioned it on the plaintiff taking certain steps, such as procuring the transfer of shares in the company to the defendant and obtaining an undertaking from the company and others that they would not claim any rights to the technology. The court also directed the parties to confer on whether the plaintiff was entitled to interest on the judgment sum.