Reserved judgment — summary judgment — Krukziener v Hanover Finance (2008) 19 PRNZ 162 — Honeybees Preschool Ltd v 127 Hobson Street Ltd [2018] NZHC 32 — Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, s 41. The plaintiff sought summary judgment for the sum of $30,000 against the defendant. The plaintiff is a specialist medical finance provider. The defendant is a medical clinic specialising in corrective eye procedures. The parties entered into an arrangement whereby the defendant became an affiliate of the plaintiff. A written agreement laid out the terms and included a liquidated damages clause providing that if a party breached any term of the agreement, a claim of the greater of $30,000, loss of profit or damages would be available. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant's alleged lack of compliance with the terms of the agreement constituted a breach and the defendant was liable to pay the liquidated damages. In particular, the defendant ceased to link to the plaintiff's website and began referring patients to outside medical finance companies. The defendant claimed that the agreement did not reflect the true nature of the arrangement between the two entities and that they had an arguable defence. The Judge considered the submissions of both parties in determining whether the defendant had a defence, holding that while the defendant did not have any corroborating evidence to back up its defence, it did not meet the test for summary judgment, as there were factual disputes that could only be resolved by trial. The Judge also noted that if he was wrong in his assessment, the defendant's further defence that the liquidated damages clause was out of proportion would merit declining the summary judgment application. The agreement contained no explanation as to the rationale for the sum and so the Judge stated that on that basis there was insufficient information to make a determination. The Judge encouraged the parties to reach a resolution together, due to the relatively small amount involved. The application for summary judgment was declined with costs reserved. Judgment Date: 26 April 2018.