iscover
Simon Parker
A legal battle between two Victoria-based real estate agency groups has been settled out of court.
According to an October 5 report in The Age, the dispute centred on a brochure that had been distributed by Barry Plant to Stockdale & Leggo franchisees.
The Age, which based its report on a statement of claim lodged with the Federal Court, reported that the brochure suggested that Stockdale & Leggo’s recent rebrand allegedly “mimicked” Barry Plant's own brand, and urged Stockdale & Leggo franchisees to swap firms to “join the leaders”.
The report said Stockdale alleged that the brochure made false representations by suggesting, among other things, that the agency was “slow to implement change” and did not “keep its brand and market fresh”. Furthermore, Stockdale & Leggo alleged that Barry Plant refused to stop circulating the brochure, retract its claims, and issue an apology.
“I can tell you that we conducted mediation this week and the matter has been settled out of court,” Barry Plant director and CEO, Mike McCarthy, told Real Estate Business late last week.
“The terms of the settlement are confidential, other than there was no admission of liability by either party.”
A spokesperson from Stockdale & Leggo told Real Estate Business that the company was unable to comment about the settlement.
