Bowers v The Law Society of New South Wales (No 7) [2021] NSWSC 611

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Bowers v The Law Society of New South Wales (No 7) [2021] NSWSC 611 Hearing dates: 25 May 2021 Decision date: 31 May 2021 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Adamson J Decision: (1) Dismiss the amended summons filed 6 April 2021. (2) Subject to (3) below, order the plaintiff to pay the first and fourth defendants' costs of the proceedings. (3) The costs covered by order (2) are not to include the costs of the determination of the separate question, in respect of which no order as to costs was made. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Summons seeking mandatory injunction pursuant to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and at law that the Law Society and College of Law allow inspection of the plaintiff's personal information — Law Society bound by Privacy Act and was obliged to produce requested documents — Pursuant to sections 467 and 468 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) the Law Society, the Council and its staff cannot be compelled to answer a subpoena or notice to produce — Absent a breach of the Law Society's obligations under the Privacy Act, the plaintiff is not entitled to injunction under s 80W of the Privacy Act or under the general law OCCUPATIONS — Legal practitioners — Qualifications and admission — Practising certificates — Application for an order that the Law Society issue the plaintiff with a sole practitioner practising certificate — This Court's inherent power does not extend to the issue, or variation, of practising certificates Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Act 1987 (NSW), s 37 Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW), ss 100, 464, 467, 468 Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW), s 11 Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), ss 3, 15, 80W Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), s 69 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 42.1 Cases Cited: A Solicitor v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (2004) 216 CLR 253; [2004] HCA 1 Council of the New South Wales Bar Association v Archer (2008) 72 NSWLR 326; [2008] NSWCA 164 Kadian v Richards (2004) 61 NSWLR 222; [2004] NSWSC 382 Minister for Home Affairs v Hunt (2019) 269 FCR 292; [2019] FCAFC 58 PQ (a pseudonym) v The Law Society of New South Wales [2021] NSWSC 258 PQ (a pseudonym) v The Law Society of New South Wales (No 3) [2021] NSWSC 420 Veghelyi v Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (1989) 17 NSWLR 669 Category: Principal judgment Parties: James Bowers (Plaintiff) The Law Society of New South Wales (First Defendant) Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (Fourth Defendant) Representation: Counsel: P Gerber (Plaintiff) T Wong SC / J Entwisle (First and Fourth Defendants)