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Price Waterhouse v Kwan

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Price Waterhouse v Kwan
CourtCourt of Appeal of New Zealand
Full case name PRICE 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[2000] 3 NZLR 39
TranscriptCourt of Appeal judgment
Court membership
Judges 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

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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

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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

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