Decided 11 March 1992 End date March 11, 1992 | Citation(s) [1992] 2 NZLR 559 Location New Zealand | |
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Full case name Dorothy Dean Mouat v Clark Boyce Ruling court Court of Appeal of New Zealand Judge sittings Robin Cooke, Baron Cooke of Thorndon, Ivor Richardson, Thomas Gault | ||
Mouat v Clark Boyce [1992] 2 NZLR 559 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding the award of damages for breach of contract.
Background
Dorothy Mouat was an elderly 72-year-old widow. Her son Robert Mouat wanted to borrow $100,000 for house alterations and for business expenses, and arranged for his mother to grant a mortgage over her Roydvale Avenue, Christchurch home as security for the loan.
When it came to sign the mortgage documents, Robert's solicitor refused to be party to the transaction, and Robert decided to use the law firm of Clark Boyce, whom were also his mother's solicitors.
Clarke Boyce informed Mrs Mouat 3 times that she should obtain independent advice, which she declined to do. In the end they got her to sign a form confirming that she refused to seek legal advice, and the mortgage documents were duly signed.
However, 2 years later, the inevitable happened, with Robert defaulting on the loan, and was later declared bankrupt as well.
Dorothy later sued Clarke Boyce for negligence.