contribution – Pheroze Jagose

Hotchin v NZGT: own goals for litigator and litigation?

Contribution is available to a defendant from another liable for the same damage alone, without any requirement that liability arises from some obligation had in common with the defendant.

Background: judgments below require ‘coordinate liability’

In Hotchin v The New Zealand Guardian Trust Company Limited [2016] NZSC 24, Mr Hotchin had sought NZGT’s contribution to any liability he may have under compensation claims brought by the FMA against him as a director of the Hanover Group. Section 17(1)(c) of the Law Reform Act 1936 permits one tortfeasor to obtain a contribution to its liability from another “liable in respect of the same damage”. Continue reading “Hotchin v NZGT: own goals for litigator and litigation?”