The Higher Court’s decision in the Hunt & Hunt case will mean a court is a lot more likely to come across that defendants are concurrent wrongdoers. The crucial value of this extra criterion can clearly be seen when one considers that even if the particular identity or class of possible plaintiffs is identified to a defendant, use of the defendant’s statement for a purpose or transaction other than that for which it was ready could still lead to indeterminate liability. The second partnership is one particular in which the contract stipulates a decrease duty than that which would be imposed by the law of tort.
This selection will most likely be influenced by the relationship in between the tort duty and the contractual duty. The classic distinction in between tort and contract was that an obligation in contract was from the agreement or will of the parties, and an obligation in tort was imposed by law. The present case is the initially to take into account the applicable guidelines as to remoteness in situations of concurrent liability in tort and contract.
Iacobucci J. concludes that a contract involving the parties may possibly preclude the possibility of suing in tort for a offered incorrect exactly where there is an express term in the contract dealing with the matter. In impact, outdoors of negligent misstatement a claim in contract can be significantly wider and facilitates a broader claim of damages. At trial the plaintiff relied mainly on fraudulent misrepresentation, with its claim in contract becoming in the option to the claim in tort.
If the simple rule above is happy (i.e. a provided pre-contractual misrepresentation does prima facie help an action in both tort and contract, and the contract does not indicate the parties’ intention to limit or negate the suitable to sue in tort) then the plaintiff will have a option of actions. If either fails to take enough care and this outcomes in loss to the claimant there is also enough ground for the basis of a tort claim.
One issue arising in the proceedings was whether Wellesley could claim for its inability to expand into the USA and win a profitable contract as a outcome of a deterioration in its financial position stated to have arisen due to the mis-drafted partnership agreement. The court mentioned that the rules for recoverability of harm in tortious claims, which in in some regards are broader than in contract, are to be restricted to the contractual position when concurrent liability is brought into pleadings.
