Trustees' indemnity rights and fiduciary duties
Lunchtime Series 16 March, 2026
Dr Adam Waldman, University of Sydney; Sarah Hill, 4 Selborne Chambers (Chair)
Michael Crouch Room, NSW State Library, Level One, Mitchell Wing, Shakespeare Place
01:00PM to 02:00PM
This seminar explores the decision of Naaman v Jaken Properties [2025] HCA 1, in which a bare majority of the High Court of Australia held that a former trustee is not owed fiduciary duties by its successor. After providing an overview of the case, the seminar will examine its implications for the law of trustees’ indemnity rights, and fiduciary duties. It will then consider what avenues remain available to a former trustee who wishes to claim against third parties who received trust assets in an attempt to destroy, diminish or jeopardise its indemnity rights.
Dr Adam Waldman is a Lecturer at the University of Sydney Law School, whose field of research is private and commercial law. Adam holds a Bachelor of Economics, a Bachelor of Laws, and a PhD in Law, from the University of Sydney. He has published in leading Australian law journals, and is currently working on a monograph examining the relationship between equity and the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth). Prior to his academic appointment, Adam worked at a boutique law firm, as a research assistant to counsel in chambers, and as a research assistant to a former Supreme Court judge.