Billionaire sues his lawyers over jet disaster

Perth billionaire Tim Roberts is suing prominent law firm Clayton Utz over alleged professional negligence.

Tim Roberts with Alice Beach at the Lexus Ball last year: Picture: John Koh, The West Australian

Perth billionaire Tim Roberts is suing prominent law firm Clayton Utz over alleged professional negligence, with the Multiplex heir arguing they should have spotted a clause that left him out of pocket when a $US31 million ($40.9m) private jet was destroyed in a fire.

The case between Mr Roberts’ aviation business Avwest Aircraft and Clayton Utz, fought out in Western Australia’s Supreme Court over the past week, centres on a contractual clause that provided a contractor tasked with refurbishing the jet with indemnity over any damage.

The $US31m luxury jet had just been bought by Mr Roberts when it was sent to the Indiana hangar of aviation group Comlux for a 12 to 18-week fit-out of a new interior, but the plane was destroyed when a fire ripped through the hangar.

Barrister Andrew Bell SC, representing Mr Roberts, has argued Clayton Utz was negligent in failing to identify what he said were deficiencies in the contract’s indemnity clause, which exempted Comlux from any liability over damage to the plane while it was in its hands.

Dr Bell said Mr Roberts would have never gone ahead with the deal if he’d been advised about the implications of the indemnity clause.

“The consequence of the failure to render this advice was that there was … a material risk that Comlux may be insulated from liability with regard to damage to the aircraft, its engines and equipment,” Dr Bell told the court.

“They are insulated from their own negligence, as well as absolved of the consequential loss.”

Mr Roberts eventually received a $US30m payment from his insurers three years after the 2010 fire, as well as $US5m in compensation from Comlux some five years later.

He is seeking compensation over the potential profits lost as a result of the wait for compensation, given the cash would have been reinvested in Avwest’s highly profitable jet trading business.

The lawyers representing Clayton Utz have argued that the firm was given only a brief opportunity to review the contract, and was instructed to concentrate on other clauses in the document.

But Dr Bell said the record of 31 instances of Mr Roberts contacting Clayton Utz for advice over three years between 2007 and 2010 showed a man who was “fastidious” in his business dealings and protecting his capital.

“Contrary to the thread of much of the cross examination (from Clayton Utz) that Avwest embraced risk and threw caution to the wind … this is a company that inter alia regularly and frequently used and sought advice from solicitors in relation to legal documents,” Dr Bell said. Lawyers for Clayton Utz will give closing statements later this month.

A spokeswoman for Clayton Utz declined to comment while Mr Roberts could not be reached.

Mr Roberts, one of Perth’s richest men, is also involved in a legal dispute with Bombardier over the collapse of a sales agreement. The case revealed that Mr Roberts bought 67 new and used aircraft worth more than $US3.1bn from Bombardier.