O’Farrell J also found at [55] – [57] that the duty of loyalty was owed not only by the first defendant, but by the whole of the defendant group. This was because the defendant group shared profits and hence had a financial interest in each member, the defendant group was managed and marketed as one global firm, and there was a common approach to identify and manage any conflicts.

The defendants relied on physical and ethical screens between members of their group. Her Honour gave little weight to this because, as she explained at [60], the fiduciary duty of loyalty is not satisfied simply with measures to preserve confidentiality and privilege. Instead, the fiduciary must not place himself in a position where his duty and his interest may conflict.

MTECC 23.07.2020 recent construction cases FINAL Download