DLA Piper provides pro bono representation to ACICA in Tesseract v Pascale

DLA Piper provided pro bono representation, led by Gitanjali Bajaj, to the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA), acting as amicus curiae in a landmark High Court judgment, Tesseract v Pascale, where by a 5:2 majority the High Court upheld the application of the South Australian proportionate liability legislation to a dispute the subject of an arbitration. 

"The decision is significant for all arbitrations conducted under Australian law," said Gitanjali Bajaj, Partner, Litigation & Regulatory, DLA Piper.  

"It provides clarity on the relevance and application of proportional liability regimes found in all Australian States and Territories and in certain Federal statutes," she added.  

Gitanjali said that in light of the High Court's decisions, parties to an arbitration agreement now need to turn their mind on appropriate exclusions to the application of proportionate liability legislation, to the extent available.

DLA Piper provided pro bono representation to the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA), which was given leave to act as amicus curiae (friend to the court) in the landmark ruling on the applicability of proportionate liability legislation in arbitration in proceedings before the High Court of Australia, Tesseract International Pty Ltd v Pascale Construction Pty Ltd [2024] HCA 24 (Tesseract v Pascale).

The parties in Tesseract sought to clarify whether the South Australian proportionate liability legislation can apply in arbitral proceedings to reduce a respondent party's liability commensurate to the extent of their wrongdoing.  Setting aside the decision of the Court of Appeal of South Australia, the High Court answered "yes" by a 5 – 2 majority.  

Gitanjali Bajaj, Co-Head for International Arbitration Asia-Pacific, who is also a Vice President of ACICA, was assisted by Gigi Lockhart and Molly Kemp.  Counsel for ACICA in the proceedings were Jonathon Redwood SC, Kate Lindeman and Boxun Yin from Banco Chambers.