Dear Colleagues;

The High Court of Australia has today handed down an interesting decision on damages for breach of contract, in Clark v Macourt [2013] HCA 56 (18 December 2013) http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2013/56.html . It involves an unusual transaction, sale of a large number of straws of frozen sperm which were not of suitable quality, and the question of how the loss suffered by the purchaser should be valued when it seems that in later transactions the purchaser was able to largely recover the loss. The majority of the Court, however (Gageler J dissenting) hold that the value should be the replacement price as at the date of the breach. I will leave it to colleagues more familiar than I am with contractual damages debates to make further comment!

Regards

Neil