Madgwicks recently represented John Rose, a successful plastics manufacturer turned investor, in a significant case against the National Australia Bank (NAB). Rose had been conned by a business partner to invest in a high end Gold Coast property investment scheme which resulted in the loss of his entire initial investment (approximately $5 million) and additional profit.
When Rose’s business partner “went to ground” and subsequently became bankrupt, Rose was left as the only possible source of recovery for NAB.
Madgwicks devised a legal strategy that drew on the circumstances surrounding the signing of the guarantees and the fact that NAB was a party to the Code of Banking Practice (the Code), which sets out how a bank should conduct its business, and the banking industry’s key commitments and obligations to customers.
In this instance Justice Elliott in the Victorian Supreme Court ruled that the Code was legally enforceable as a contract, meaning that the guarantees Rose had signed were unenforceable. Walker won what many would have thought an unwinnable battle!
