Wang v Cai

The case of Wang v Cai involved Wang, the trustee of a unit trust, and Cai, a unit holder in the trust. The dispute centred around a property held by the trust, with Wang alleging that Cai had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in relation to the property. Cai sought to establish a resulting trust over the property. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue was whether the solicitor representing both Wang and Cai had a conflict of interest that would render their representation invalid. The court had to determine if the solicitor's dual representation constituted a breach of professional conduct rules, specifically whether it contravened the provisions of the Uniform Law and the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 7.25.

In resolving the conflict of interest issue, the court held that the solicitor's representation of both parties constituted a conflict of interest that could not be satisfactorily managed. The court found that the solicitor's duty to one party was inherently at odds with their duty to the other, which violated the professional conduct rules. The court emphasised that the solicitor had a duty to act in the best interests of each client separately and that this was not possible where the clients' interests were opposed. Consequently, the court determined that the solicitor's representation was invalid, and the claims made by Cai were dismissed as a result.

The final orders of the court included the dismissal of Cai's claims and the determination that the solicitor's representation was invalid due to the conflict of interest. This ruling underscored the importance of maintaining separate and independent representation for parties with opposing interests in legal proceedings.