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Fresh evidence – how fresh is fresh enough?

By Hayley Hitch, Solicitor and Stephen Mullette, Principal of Matthews Folbigg in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

It is the stuff of the classic cop show or court room thriller. The bad guy is about to get away with the crime, until there is an application to introduce “fresh evidence”.

But how fresh is fresh enough?

In the real world, if the application is found to be just an attempt to re-hear a matter without in fact bringing new evidence before the Court, the application will be dismissed and potentially a cost order may be made against the applicant. [...]  READ MORE →

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Misuse of Confidential Information – Evidence relied upon after the fact

In the recent decision of Finemore v CMIB Insurance Services Pty Limited [2016] FWC 8517, an employer successfully relied upon evidence of misuse of its confidential information discovered following the termination of employment, in order to defend itself from an unfair dismissal claim.

The Facts

The Applicant had been employed by the Respondent (a small business employer) for approximately six years, most recently in the role of Account Executive. The Applicant was employed under a written employment contract containing several post-employment obligations including an obligation to preserve the Respondent’s confidential information [...]  READ MORE →