A few hours later, Bruce Smith asked me out for dinner. Over an excellent meal in an elegant sea food restaurant by the Swan River, he told me what had taken place in court during the afternoon.
Bruce had been subjected to a searching cross examination. Vollar’s Counsel tried to establish that, when Bruce composed he reference, he had hidden facts known to him, such as the Katz’ bankruptcy in South Australia. Bruce insisted that the reference revealed all material facts known to him and that he followed the Bank’s standard practice when he composed it. He had not written out the disclaimer because it would be read out to an enquirer such as Vollar as a matter of practice.
“Your subsequent correspondence with Vollar is not too pleasant,” I told him.
“What do you meant?” he asked startled.
“The emails of both parties revealed anger. They were antagonistic.”
“So they were. But them, Vollar accused me of fraud and misrepresentation. These are serious allegations. I was not prepared to take them lightly. And Vollar was plain rude from the start.”
The only other witness of fact called by Jack Wilson was the clerk who had rung Vollar. She admitted that she had no recollection of the relevant reference but insisted that the disclaimer was read out by her as a matter of practice. She insisted she had never departed from the Bank’s instructions set out in its manual. She was not shaken when told that Vollar was certain no disclaimer had been communicated to him. Standing her ground, she assured the Judge that Vollar was wrong.