Storey v Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force (No 3) [2021] NSWSC 1101

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Storey v Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force (No 3) [2021] NSWSC 1101 Hearing dates: 22 June 2021; written submissions closed 15 July 2021 Date of orders: 31 August 2021 Decision date: 31 August 2021 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Wright J Decision: (1) Pursuant to s 98(4)(c) of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), the plaintiff is to pay $10,776.00 in respect of the costs ordered to be paid by order 3 made by Davies J on 27 August 2020. (2) Pursuant to s 98(4)(c) of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), the plaintiff is to pay $45,665.00 in respect of the costs ordered to be paid by order 5 made by Wright J on 16 October 2020. (3) Pursuant to s 98(4)(c) of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), the plaintiff is to pay the first defendant's costs of this application for gross sum costs orders in the sum of $6,000.00. (4) Pursuant to s 7 of the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) and upon the ground referred to in s 8(1)(a) and (e), until 21 June 2022 or earlier order of the Court, the following information is not to be disclosed, except to the parties to these proceedings: (a) the hourly rate for each lawyer (excluding counsel) and the amount of time recorded in hours for each lawyer (excluding counsel) in total and in respect of each individual narration in each of the tax invoices in Exhibit VA-1 and Exhibit B; (b) the hourly rates of the partner and the 3rd year solicitor recorded in paragraph 103 of the plaintiff's submissions appearing at page 107 of Exhibit A; and (c) the time recorded in hours in each of the narrations extracted in the three bullet points in the email dated 4 February 2021 appearing at page 62 of Exhibit A. (5) Order 4 applies throughout the Commonwealth of Australia. (6) The parties have liberty to apply in respect of order 4 on 2 days' notice. Catchwords: COSTS — party/party — gross sum costs orders — applicable principles – bases of quantification of gross sum costs orders — factors relevant to the court's discretion when quantifying costs for purposes of gross sum costs orders CIVIL PROCEDURE — suppression and non-publication — proper administration of justice required disclosure of solicitors' hourly rates — solicitors' hourly rates confidential and commercially sensitive in context of an ongoing tender process for inclusion on legal services panel — suppression order appropriate until tender process completed Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), Pt 6, s 98 Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW), ss 3, 6-8, 10-12 Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth), s 50 Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW), Pt 7 Police Act 1990 (NSW), ss 181E and 181D Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 59.7(4) Cases Cited: Attorney-General v Mayas Pty Ltd (1988) 14 NSWLR 342 Beach Petroleum NL v Johnson (No 2) (1995) 57 FCR 119 Hadid v Lenfest Communications Inc [2000] FCA 628 Hamod v State of New South Wales [2011] NSWCA 375 Harrison v Schipp (2002) 54 NSWLR 738; [2002] NSWCA 213 Hogan v Australian Crime Commission (2010) 240 CLR 651; [2010] HCA 21 James v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd [2017] NSWCA 84 John Fairfax Group Pty Ltd v Local Court of New South Wales (1991) 26 NSWLR 131 Storey v Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force (No 2) [2020] NSWSC 1429 Storey v Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force [2020] NSWSC 1135 Zepinic v Chateau Constructions (Aust) Ltd (No 2) [2014] NSWCA 99 Category: Costs Parties: Justin Storey (Plaintiff) Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force (First Defendant) Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales (Second Defendant) Representation: In person (Plaintiff)