Melrose Cranes and Rigging Pty Ltd v. Manitowoc Crane Group Australia Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC 904

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Melrose Cranes and Rigging Pty Ltd v. Manitowoc Crane Group Australia Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC 904 Hearing dates: 2 July 2012 Decision date: 17 August 2012 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: S.G. Campbell J Decision: The relief sought in prayer 6 of the defendant's Notice of Motion filed on 22nd February 2012 is refused. The defendant is to pay Underwriting Agency of Australia Pty Limited's costs of the application in relation to prayer 6 on the ordinary basis forthwith after they have been agreed or assessed. Catchwords: PRIVILEGE - fire causing damage to crane - crane owner sues company responsible for sales and service - seller serves subpoenas to produce documents on three non-party respondent incident investigators - owners insurer claims litigation privilege or in the alternative advice privilege - HELD - documents protected from disclosure by litigation privilege - WAIVER - seller claims owners insurer by its conduct waived privilege - HELD - privilege not waived Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Evidence Amendment Act 2007 (NSW) (repealed) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 Cases Cited: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v. Australian Safeway Stores Pty Ltd (1998) 81 FCR 526 Baker v. Campbell (1983) 153 CLR 52 CAL No. 14 Pty Ltd v. Motor Accidents Insurance Board (2009) 239 CLR 390 Cataldi v. Commissioner for Government Transport (1970) 1 NSWR 65 C-C Bottlers Limited v. Lion Nathan Limited [1993] 2 NZLR 445 Commissioner of Australian Federal Police v. Propend Finance Pty Ltd (1997) 188 CLR 501 DSE (Holdings) Pty Ltd v. InterTAN Inc. (2003) 135 FCR 151 ESSO Australia Resources Limited v. Commissioner of Taxation (Cth) (1999) 201 CLR 49 Farah Constructions Pty Ltd v. Say-Dee Pty Ltd (2007) 230 CLR 89 Federal Commissioner of Taxation v. Spotless Services Limited (1996) 186 CLR 404 Grant v. Downs (1976) 135 CLR 674 GSA Industries (Aust.) Pty Ltd v. Constable [2002] 2 Qd R 146 Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance of New Zealand v. Stuart [1985] 1 NZLR 596 Guinness Peat Properties Ltd & Ors. v. Fitzroy Robinson Partnership [1987] 2 All ER 716 Health and Life Care Limited v. Price Waterhouse (1997) 69 SASR 362 Mann v. Carnell (1999) 201 CLR 1 Meteyard v. Love (2005) 65 NSWLR 36 Mitsubishi Electric Australia Pty Ltd v. Victorian WorkCover Authority (2002) 4 VR 332 ML Ubase Holdings Pty Ltd v. Trigem Computer Inc. (2007) 69 NSWLR 577 Nikmar Pty Ltd v. Preservatrice Skandia Insurance (1985) 3 NSWLR 44 Orica Australia Pty Ltd v. Limit (No. 2) Ltd [2008] VSC 247 Pratt Holdings Pty Ltd v. Commissioner of Taxation (2004) 136 FCR 357 Public Transport Authority of Western Australia v. Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd (2007) 34 WAR 279 R. v. P. (2001) 53 NSWLR 664 Samenic Limited v. APM Group (Aust.) Pty Ltd [2011] VSC 194 Singtel Optus v. Weston [2011] NSWSC 1083 State of New South Wales v. Jackson [2007] NSWCA 279 State of New South Wales v. Public Transport Ticketing Corporation [2011] NSWCA 60 Sydney Airports Corporation Limited v. Singapore Airlines Limited [2005] NSWCA 47 The Daniels Corporation International Pty Ltd v. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (2002) 213 CLR 543 Tooheys Ltd v. Housing Commission of New South Wales (1952) 20 LGR (NSW) 236 Waterford v. Commonwealth (1987) 163 CLR 54 Waugh v. British Railways Board [1980] AC 521 Westpac Banking Corp. v. 789TEN Pty Ltd (2005) 55 ACSR 519 Wheeler v. Le Marchant (1881) 17 Ch. D. 675 Category: Interlocutory applications Parties: Manitowoc Crane Group Australia Pty Limited (applicant) Melrose Cranes and Rigging Pty Limited (first respondent) Underwriting Agencies of Australia Pty Limited (second respondent) Representation: Counsel: Mr. R. Cheney S.C (applicant) Mr. A.M. Stewart (second respondent) Solicitors: Lee & Lyons Lawyers (applicant) Beston Macken McManis (first respondent) Hicksons Lawyers (second respondent) File Number(s): 2010/232918