The Supreme Court of Queensland has recently been asked to consider whether or not an exchange of emails between a potential purchaser and the agent of a vendor was sufficient to create a legally binding contract. The first question answered by the Court was whether or not the facts of the case supported the finding that a contract existed, and second whether or not that contract could be created on the mere sending of emails. In this case, there was no formal contract for the sale of land.

3D printing has been around in one form or another since 1984, when a process was introduced to transfer digital data into tangible objects. While initially utilised in experimental, technical and scientific endeavours, the technology has advanced to a point where “home printing” and desktop scale printers have been introduced to the market. The technology is now readily available to the consumer.

Previous proceedings brought by a credit hire car provider in the name of an insured do not necessarily preclude a later subrogated action.

Congratulations to our Franchise and Retail partner, Corinne Attard who  has again been selected for the second year running by Who’s Who Legal as being among the world’s leading franchise lawyers.  Corinne acts for retailers, franchisors and master franchisees including some of the world’s most recognisable brands.

The Queensland Treasurer, Curtis Pitt, on 15 July 2015 introduced into Queensland Parliament the Workers’ Compensation & Rehabilitation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 (Qld) (the Bill). The Bill makes a number of amendments to the Workers’ Compensation & Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld) (WC&RA), the most significant of which is clause 6 which will see the removal from the WC&RA of the requirement for a worker’s injury to have an assessed degree of permanent impairment (DPI) of more than 5% in order for a worker to be entitled to bring a common law claim against their employer. The amendment is proposed to be back dated to commence on 31 January 2015 (the date the Qld state election was held).

Health information can reflect a person’s medical condition (including HIV status), mental health, lifestyle, sexual preference, personal history (in terms of sexual or other abuse), family and beliefs.  This information can be valuable not only in terms of clinical care but also in relation to medical research, population planning, genetic profiling, personalised medicine, workers compensation, insurance profiles and, in cases dealing with paternity, custody and other disputes.

And the winner is…

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Aged & Community Services (NSW & ACT) Volunteer award for 2015 is Jan Wright of St Catherine’s Aged Care, Bathurst, part of Catholic Health Care.

Holman Webb is delighted to be included in the list of the nation's fastest growing firms in The Australian Legal Partnership Survey, Friday 26 June 2015.

Nicholas Gordon, Senior Associate, and Vahini Chetty, Associate recently presented on recent cases which considered the Civil Liability Act and how these decisions may impact future claims.

There have been some recent developments in the Small Claims Division on the issue of credit hire.
 
Unlike the decision of Pham v Rahman, where the Assessor accepted tiered rates for the hire of a replacement vehicle, in Hayes v Batesman the Court did not accept the tiered rates in the assessment of loss. However, this matter was decided on the facts following the cross-examination of an employee from a rental company. Hayes v Batesman left it open for a the Court to accept tiered rates if the appropriate evidence was before  the Assessor.