New South Wales (29 October 2026)

Send us Fan Mail Sixteen decisions from three courts in the New South Wales edition of Thursday 29 October 2026, four of them headnoted. In a construction subcontract, "estimated" completion dates paired with an extension mechanism bind, a deemed ground for extension must still be claimed within the notice bar, and a reserve power to extend for the contractor's benefit excludes the prevention principle. A party who has not closed its case must be allowed to tender its evidence before the defendant goes into evidence, and should be heard on reopening without a forced admission. A party that does not ask for reasons in a list that does not ordinarily give them cannot complain of their absence on appeal. Habeas corpus does not lie against detention under unchallenged superior court orders, nor reagitate a concluded conviction appeal. Worked examples on mortgagee-sale caveats, security for costs and costs among defendants, and nine list-only decisions on the registry. The three Court of Appeal decisions also feature in the Court of Appeal brief of the same day; here they get the New South Wales angle. Commercial Law Desk (opening story). Tallai Project Group Pty Ltd v Ellair Solutions Pty Ltd [2026] NSWSC 1332 - (Rees J, 29 October 2026) judgment for the plaintiff contractor for the overpayment, with costs. Estimated Dates for Practical Completion, paired by experienced parties with a bespoke extension of time mechanism, operate as binding dates unless extended; no reasonable time implied; time not at large (XJS World distinguished). A clause making delay in possession a ground for extension is not an automatic extension: the subcontractor must claim, a 14-day notice bar defeats unclaimed extensions, and the contractor has no duty to ensure a claim. A reserve power exercisable in the contractor's sole discretion for its own benefit excludes the prevention principle and any implied duty of fair exercise. A 10% cap on the undefined contract sum applied to each separable portion; contra proferentem was excluded and is a last resort. A fixed lump sum subcontract for the whole of the works is an entire contract, divisible here by separable portion; no quantum meruit for a party terminated for default. A show cause power on the contractor's reasonable opinion carries an implied duty of reasonableness and good faith but does not require the contractor to subordinate its own interests; termination valid. JADE Equity-One Mortgage Fund Limited v Edwards [2026] NSWSC 1352 - (Slattery J, 29 October 2026) synopsis only; no outcome stated here. A template for caveat removal in a mortgagee sale: the application treated as an interlocutory injunction inquiry; damages commonly adequate given s 111A(4) of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW); the Inglis payment-in requirement, a personal undertaking no substitute where the mortgagor is in other default; prejudice to non-joined purchasers; scrutiny of refinancing evidence; marketing campaign evidence answers an undervalue claim. JADE Practice and Procedure Desk (Tabbaa and MMP also in the Court of Appeal brief). Tabbaa v State of New South Wales [2026] NSWCA 230 - (Mitchelmore and Stern JJA, Griffiths AJA, 29 October 2026) leave granted in part; appeal allowed as to the malicious prosecution claim, which is remitted to the District Court; leave otherwise refused. Summary judgment under r 29.10 UCPR is interlocutory; the s 127 District Court Act threshold needs a realistic prospect of changing wealth by $100,000, and unsupported assertions of economic loss do not meet it. Whether a party has closed its case is a question of fact. A party that has not closed, and has made no disabling forensic choice, must be permitted to tender before the defendant