Walthamstow Pty Ltd v Caratti [No 2]

In Walthamstow Pty Ltd v Caratti [No 2], the defendants sought to restrain the plaintiff's solicitors from continuing to act in proceedings in which the plaintiff is pursuing the defendants for an amount in the order of $6.0 million. The defendants contended that the solicitors (Hotchkin Hanly) should be restrained from acting on the basis that the firm had previously acted for the defendants, was in possession of confidential information which might be relevant to the present proceedings, and because it was necessary to do so in order to ensure the due administration of justice. The solicitors denied the allegations and highlighted the information barrier protocol which had been established by the firm to protect any confidential information held by the firm. The court considered the application was promptly brought and required a relatively urgent resolution given the looming trial dates. The court considered that, while the solicitors had acted for the defendants in the past, and had provided legal advice on a range of matters, there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the solicitors were in possession of confidential information which was relevant to the present proceedings. The court found that the solicitors had an interest in the proceedings on the basis that they had acted for the second defendant on a matter which is said to be related to the issues in these actions. The court found that the information barrier protocol which had been established by the firm was insufficient to ensure that the information acquired by the firm would not be inadvertently disclosed to the solicitors who are acting for the plaintiff in these actions. The court also found that the long history of prior engagements by the solicitors for the defendants provided a sufficient basis to restrain the solicitors from acting, on the basis that it was necessary to do so to ensure the due administration of justice. The application to restrain the solicitors from acting was therefore granted.