PQ (a pseudonym) v The Law Society of New South Wales [2021] NSWSC 258

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: PQ (a pseudonym) v The Law Society of New South Wales [2021] NSWSC 258 Hearing dates: 11 March 2021 Decision date: 19 March 2021 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Adamson J Decision: (1) Dismiss the plaintiff's notice of motion filed on 7 January 2021. (2) Order that the following question be determined as a separate question in advance of the balance of the proceedings: "Is the Council of the first defendant, by reason of s 464(3) of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW), taken to have refused the plaintiff's application made on 10 November 2020 for a variation of his Australian practising certificate (to authorise him to practice as a principal of a law practice) by reason of not having determined the application within 90 days?" (3) Reserve costs. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Cross-vesting — Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) — Expedition — Separate determination of questions MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS — Publication — Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) — Non-publication order OCCUPATIONS — Legal practitioners — Qualifications and admission — Practising certificates Legislation Cited: Court Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW), ss 7, 8, 12 Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross Vesting) Act 1987 (Cth), s 4 Legal Profession Uniform General Rules (2015), r 111 Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW), ss 95, 100, 464 Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW), s 11 Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) Succession Act 2006 (NSW) Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), s 69 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 44 Cases Cited: Veghelyi v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (1989) 17 NSWLR 669 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: PQ (a pseudonym) (Plaintiff) The Law Society of New South Wales (First Defendant) The College of Law Limited (Second Defendant) Representation: Counsel: In person (Plaintiff) T Wong SC / J Entwisle (First Defendant) J Delaney (Second Defendant)