Temwood Holdings Pty Ltd v Oliver

Temwood Holdings Pty Ltd commenced proceedings against Oscar Neil Blackburne Oliver, ASEAN Australian Assets Pty Ltd (AAA) and Sly and Weigall (a firm) in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, seeking damages for breach of fiduciary duty and accessory liability. The plaintiff sought to reamend its statement of claim, which had already been amended several times. The defendants opposed the application on various grounds. The court considered the objections and decided that leave to reamend the statement of claim should be refused. The court found that the pleading was unclear and did not sufficiently identify the elements of the cause of action against Sly and Weigall. The court held that the plaintiff was required to spell out unambiguously what was the breach of fiduciary duty to which dishonest assistance is said to have been lent or what was the fraudulent and dishonest breach of fiduciary duty in which there is said to have been knowing participation by Sly and Weigall. The court concluded that the proposed amendments should be refused until the pleading had been further clarified.