Understanding Legal Affidavits: A Case Study on Building Disputes
School
The College of Law **We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
LAW NP2417F1BC
Subject
Law
Date
Dec 10, 2024
Pages
7
Uploaded by CountWolf4837
Form 40 (version 6)UCPR 35.1AFFIDAVIT OF ALI ALLEN 21/10/2024COURT DETAILSCourtDistrict Court of New South WalesDivisionGeneralRegistrySydneyCase number2024/0001274TITLE OF PROCEEDINGSPlaintiffBrown’s Bricks Pty LimitedABN 23 456 032 045DefendantAli Allen (Trading as Northern Homes)ACN 082 753 276FILING DETAILSFiled forAli Allen DefendantLegal representativeZane Fatseas Law & Co Solicitors #Legal representative referenceZF53825Contact name and telephoneZane Fatseas 0481345713Contact emailZane.law&cosolicitors@gmail.com
2[on separate page]AFFIDAVITNameAli AllenAddress19 Roundabout Road, Raby NSW 2566OccupationLicensed Builder Date21/10/2024I say on oath:1I am the Defendant.2I am a licensed builder and trade as Northern Homes.3I have worked in the building industry for 25 years.4I have known Gill Brown of Brown’s Bricks for 10 years.Background of Dispute 5On 9 May 2024, I contacted the plaintiff in order to place an order for 70,000 bricks from their heritage range. I was in contact with Francis Lin, the manager of the sales department.6I knew it was Franics Lin from previous dealings. Franics explained that large orders such as this are required to be in writing, to which I told her I would confirm with an email shortly.7The email was sent the same day by Alil, and the bricks were directed to be delivered to Lot 34 Clemetine Road, Davidson, the location of the work site. I indicated id like them delivered in 7 days.8Four and a half months ago I received an invoice from Brown’s Bricks for the 70,000 bricks. A true copy of the invoice is annexed hereto and marked ‘A’.9At this point, the bricks had not been delivered, so I telephoned Franics Lin. Franis told me that the bricks had been delivered about a week ago, however she will double check her records and get back to me.10I was later contacted by Franics Lin, the conversation went as follows:a. Franis said “I've checked the records and the bricks were delivered to Lot 34 Clemetine Road, Davidson on Saturday 20 October 2024”.b. Franis also said they were delivered by “Emu Transport”.
3c. I explained that “Look I hope we don't have the same troubles as we had at Manly. I never got the bricks and I've got no intention of paying for them.”d. I also said “Before I go, do your records show anyone having signed for the bricks?”e. To which Francis replied “No, when Mr Petraka delivered the bricks there was noone there”.11It is not an uncommon thing for building sites to be the victim of robberies, as such it has become a usual practise for transport companies to insist upon a person being on the site to take delivery of building products. Especially for such a large order that required writing in the first place.Service of Statement of Claim 13On 8 July 2024, I received a letter of demand from Aya Duong, Credit Manager of Brown’s Bricks. A true copy of the email from Aya Droug is hereto annexed and marked ‘B’.14On 22 July 2024 I received a email from Just and Flare informing me of the outstanding amount, and that if it wasn’t paid in 7 days they would commence enforcement proceedings. A true copy of the email from Just and Flare is hereto annexed and marked ‘C’.15On 7 August 2024, I was served with a statement of claim, to which I was not sure how to respond. 16I wanted to get legal advice; however I was not able to afford it at the time. I did however go to the Chamber Service at Manly Local Court to seek advice about the Statement of Claim, where I spoke to a clerk at the counter.17The clerk, Tina Cilic explained that I was at the wrong court and had to go to the district court for this matter. Which was quite some distance for me.18Around the same time I was served with the statement of claim, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, which caused me great distress for myself and my family, so much so that I forgot about the statement of claim. I was concerned with working so that I may support my wife.
4Service of Default Judgement 19On 6 September 2024, I went to the District Court in Sydney where I spoke to a clerk at the counter, Simon Billings. 20Simon explained that “Default judgement was entered in this matter yesterday, so you need to see a solicitor immediately”.21I couldn’t afford a solicitor as a result of the many medical bills I had to pay arising from my wife’s medical condition. In addition to having the belief that I hadn’t done anything wrong.22A week after talking to Simon Billings at the District court I lodged a written complaint at NSW Fair Trading. A copy of the complaint is hereto annexed and marked ‘D’.23I received an email back from Fair trading explaining that as it wasn’t a consumer matter they were unable to assist me. 24On 1 October 2024, I had a conversation with my friend Bill Cominos, aty the Beachside Hotel and we had a conversation as follows:a. “I was working on a building site at Lot 34 Clement Road, Davidson, a few months ago. It’s a vacant lot. All of a sudden these bricks turned up. We couldn’t use the bricks there but the owner of the site thought they would do nicely for his new house extension and he arranged to have them delivered to another address.”25As a result Lot 34 Clement Road, Davidson is a vacant lot in an industrial development about 1 km from the other site.26Around 9 October 2024, I engaged with solicitors at Law & Co Solicitors.
5SWORN atLaw & Co SolicitorsSignature of deponentAli Allen Name of witnessZane FatseasAddress of witness605 Law & Co, Coogee NSW 2034Capacity of witnessSolicitorAnd as a witness, I certify the following matters concerning the person who made this affidavit (the deponent): 1I saw the face of the deponent. 2I have known the deponent for at least 12 months.Identification document relied on (may be original or certified copy)*Signature of witnessAli AllenNote: The deponent and witness must sign each page of the affidavit. See UCPR 35.7B.*[ "Identification documents" include current driver licence, proof of age card, Medicare card, credit card, Centrelink pension card, Veterans Affairs entitlement card, student identity card, citizenship certificate, birth certificate, passport or see Oaths Regulation 2011orrefer to the guidelines in the NSW Department of Attorney General and Justice's "Justices of the Peace Handbook" section 2.3 "Witnessing an affidavit" at the following address: http://www.jp.nsw.gov.au/Documents/jp%20handbook%202014.pdf ]
6[on separate page]INTERPRETER’S AFFIDAVITNameAddressOccupationDateI [#say on oath #affirm]:1I am an accredited interpreter as defined in the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005in the following languages [provide details of the languages].2My [#accreditation #registration #recognition] to interpret the languages set out inparagraph 1 has been issued by [provide details of the recognised agency].3On [date] I sight translated the above affidavit of [name] dated [date] (the Affidavit)to [name] (theDeponent) in the [specify language] language.4Before translating the Affidavit, I:a.read the code of conduct contained in Schedule 7A to the Uniform CivilProcedure Rules 2005 and agreed to be bound by it; andb.was given adequate opportunity to prepare to sight translate the Affidavit.5After I sight translated the entire Affidavit to the Deponent, the Deponent then:a.informed the person responsible for the preparation of the Affidavit throughme that the Deponent understood my interpretation and agreed with the entirecontents of the Affidavit; andb.[#swore #affirmed] the Affidavit in my presence.
7#SWORN #AFFIRMED atSignature of deponentName of witnessAddress of witnessCapacity of witness[#Justice of the peace #Solicitor #Barrister #Commissioner for affidavits #Notary public]And as a witness, I certify the following matters concerning the person who made this affidavit (the deponent): 1#I saw the face of the deponent. [OR, delete whichever option is inapplicable]#I did not see the face of the deponent because the deponent was wearing a face covering, but I am satisfied that the deponent had a special justification for not removing the covering.†2#I have known the deponent for at least 12 months. [OR, delete whichever option is inapplicable]#I have confirmed the deponent’s identity using the following identification document:Identification document relied on (may be original or certified copy)‡Signature of witnessNote: The deponent and witness must sign each page of the affidavit. See UCPR 35.7B.†[ The only "special justification" for not removing a face covering is a legitimate medical reason (at April 2012).]‡[ "Identification documents" include current driver licence, proof of age card, Medicare card, credit card, Centrelink pension card, Veterans Affairs entitlement card, student identity card, citizenship certificate, birth certificate, passport or see Oaths Regulation 2011.]