The High Court has struck out John Gaynor’s proceedings against his former lawyers, the Official Assignee and other defendants, finding that claims concerning his bankrupt estate were not his to pursue and that his challenges to earlier court orders could not be reopened in this case.
In a judgment delivered on 12 September 2025, Mr Justice Kennedy also ordered that Gaynor must first obtain permission from the President of the High Court before commencing further proceedings against the Official Assignee and his solicitors, their servants or agents, or seeking to relitigate claims vested in the Official Assignee. The restriction also covers attempts to relitigate the bankruptcy adjudication, family home and injunction orders against any party.
Gaynor’s 2024 proceedings alleged, among other things, that legal costs had been paid or that attempts to pay them were concealed, resulting in an unlawful bankruptcy adjudication. He accused several defendants of fraud and other wrongdoing and sought damages and orders affecting the administration and sale of assets. The allegations were his claims; the judgment did not find that they were true.
The defendants’ application sought dismissal, arguing that Gaynor lacked standing to pursue claims relating to the estate and that his case was unstatable and an abuse of process. Gaynor filed a counter-motion seeking confirmation that he could proceed. The judge struck out the counter-motion as redundant, saying the issues would be addressed on the defendants’ application.
The judgment records that Gaynor was adjudicated bankrupt in 2015, discharged in 2021, and that his estate remained vested in the Official Assignee for creditors. Applying the Bankruptcy Act 1988, the judge held that claims belonging to the estate vested in the Official Assignee and could not be pursued by Gaynor. He also held that Gaynor could not use these proceedings to mount a collateral attack on earlier orders after the available appeal routes had been exhausted.
The court further concluded that claims against the Official Assignee and those acting in the administration of the estate depended on Gaynor’s challenge to the adjudication. The judgment said his pleadings lacked sufficient particulars and that, even if some allegations had substance—which the judge did not decide—those claims were statute-barred.
The court struck out the proceedings and made the permission requirement, citing repeated attempts to relitigate matters already determined. It listed the case for final orders on 20 October 2025 at 10:45am. The judgment does not state what orders, if any, were made at that later listing.