Friday, March 29, 2024

Rural Livestock accepts ruling

Neal Wallace
The stock firm caught up in a long-running legal dispute over cattle transactions accepts the High Court ruling in favour of a client and agrees with the judgment that a handshake to cement a deal is no longer appropriate.
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Justice Gerald Nation has ordered the payment of $272,867 to south Otago farmer Ross Clark and his family over a dispute arising from lost, missing or unpaid livestock transactions in 2015-16 involving former Rural Livestock agent John Williams.

In his finding Justice Nation says Clark put a significant degree of trust in Williams and in securing deals with a handshake.

In a statement Rural Livestock describes his finding that traditional handshake deals should be consigned to history as fair and timely.

The statement says one of the claims related to Williams buying cattle on behalf of Clark, which the agent purportedly arranged to have grazed on free leases on two farms, one in Balclutha, the other in Mid Canterbury.

“Williams didn’t provide information to Mr Clark about the identity of the stock so they could be traced,” the statement says.

“The plaintiff thus paid for the stock but didn’t obtain possession although it was more than six months after the purchase that Rural Livestock was informed that this was the case. 

“Both the Clarks and Rural Livestock needed the assistance of the High Court to resolve their remaining differences.

“Rural Livestock respects the decision of the court in relation to those claims.”

While undesirable to have the dispute resolved by the High Court the statement says Rural Livestock has significant empathy with the Clark family.

The firm has adopted initiatives to protect against this happening again.

As a member of the NZ Stock and Station Agents Association it supports steps to introduce greater regulation to protect against improper acts such as dishonesty, fraud and criminal behaviour.

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