Giuseppe Portale v Law Society of New South Wales (No 2) [2010] NSWDC 60

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: Giuseppe Portale v Law Society of New South Wales (No 2) [2010] NSWDC 60

JUDGMENT DATE: 26 February 2010

JURISDICTION: District Court of New South Wales

JUDGMENT OF: Cogswell SC DCJ

DECISION: Under s 384(2)(b) of the Legal Profession Act 2004 I remit my decision on the questions raised by Mr Portale to the costs review panel and I order it to redetermine the application insofar as I have indicated that paragraphs 35, 36, 37, and 39 of its reasons require elaboration in the ways I have specified.

CATCHWORDS: CIVIL LAW - obligation on costs assessors to give reasons - review of applicable principles - matter for each assessor as to what is required to perform their statutory task - sufficiency of reasons in this case - one costs review member sometime member Law Society Council

LEGISLATION CITED: Legal Profession Act 1987 Legal Profession Act 2004 s 354(2), s 384

Attorney General (NSW) v Kennedy Miller Television Pty Ltd (1998) 43 NSWLR 729 CASES CITED: Dunn v Jerrard & Stuk Lawyers [2009] NSWSC 681 Frumar v Owners of Strata Plan 36957 (2006) 67 NSWLR 321 Randall Pty Ltd v Willoughby City Council [2009] NSWDC 118

PARTIES: Giuseppe Portale Law Society of New South Wales

FILE NUMBER(S): 2422/09

COUNSEL: Ms Webster for the defendant

SOLICITORS: Mr Portale in person Mr Pierotti for the defendant

JUDGMENT

1. On 11 February 2010 I gave an earlier judgment in these proceedings. I set out the general background to the proceedings in that judgment. The purpose of this judgment today is to dispose of the remaining appeal grounds which are set out in Mr Portale's summons commencing an appeal filed on 9 June 2009. His grounds of appeal are set out in that document very clearly and they are also set out in his written submissions and I do not propose to recite the detail of each ground.