Andrew McAdam

The principal consulting actuary was one of many caught up in a regulatory investigations and litigation, arising from the collapse of the insurance group. He and his insurers were also faced with a massive damages exposure in litigation in the NSW Supreme Court. Andrew’s thorough forensic investigation and ability to marshal the enormous amounts of information involved resulted in a successful navigation through the investigation and a great commercial outcome for the actuary and his insurers in the litigation.

The civil works design and construction contractor was sued along with others for alleged claims of civil design defects. In a multi-party litigation, Andrew was successful in preparing a case, that at trial, resulted in the contractor passing the whole of its liability exposure down to the engineering consultants. This resulted in the contractor and its insurers avoiding a financial contribution to the award of damages made to the owners of the plant.

In the building of a multi-storey hotel complex, a dispute over supplied building materials and other contractual issues arose between a building contractor and project principal. Proposing a strategy that involved a materials testing process, Andrew was able to show that the principal was in default under the contract. This dispute was also the subject of an arbitration, resulting in a favourable outcome for the contractor.

Andrew has been very involved in recent years in cases concerning the development of the law in connection with proportionate liability, which was introduced in Australia in 2004. Andrew was directly involved in advising clients about the meaning and effect of the relevant legislation, formulating a strategy in response to the legislation, and in preparing written submissions for use in court. The cases that Andrew has been involved in include: Dartberg Pty Ltd v Wealthcare Financial Planning Pty Ltd [2007] FCA 1216; Atkins v Interprac Financial Planning Pty Ltd & Anor [2007] VSC 445; Wealthcare Financial Planning Pty Ltd v Financial Industry Complaints Service Ltd & Ors [2009] VSC; 7 Lion-Dairy & Drinks Pty Limited v Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd (No 5) [2014] FCA 897; COI Building Group Pty Ltd v 100 Percent Plumbing Ltd [2017] VSC 418.