Price Waterhouse v Kwan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Price Waterhouse v Kwan
CourtCourt of Appeal of New Zealand
Full case namePRICE WATERHOUSE Appellant AND P KWAN AND OTHERS Respondents AND BETWEEN PRICE WATERHOUSE Appellant AND K D HUGHES per N M HUGHES Respondent
Decided16 December 1999
Citation(s)[2000] 3 NZLR 39
Transcript(s)Court of Appeal judgment
Court membership
Judge(s) sittingGault J, Keith J, Tipping J
Keywords
negligence

Price Waterhouse v Kwan [2000] 3 NZLR 39 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding liability for negligent misstatements.[1]

Background[edit]

Price Waterhouse were the auditors of a law firm. It was later claimed that Price Waterhouse were negligent in their audits resulting in them losing their investments.

Held[edit]

As the purpose of the audits was for the protection of clients money, there was sufficient proximity to hold that PW owed them a duty of care, and were accordingly ordered to pay damages.

The previous ruling in the McLaren Maycroft & Co v Fletcher Development Co Ltd case was overturned.

References[edit]

  1. ^ McLay, Geoff (2003). Butterworths Student Companion Torts (4th ed.). LexisNexis. ISBN 0-408-71686-X.