Brendan King v Stephen Noel Griffiths [2013] NSWSC 808

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Brendan King v Stephen Noel Griffiths [2013] NSWSC 808 Hearing dates: 4 June 2013 Decision date: 04 June 2013 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Slattery J Decision: Dismiss the plaintiffs' motion to separate trial of issues of liability from the assessment of damages. Plaintiffs to pay the defendants' costs of this application. Catchwords: PROCEDURE - application under UCPR r 28.2 to separate trial of issues of liability from the assessment of damages - alternative application to separate the question of advocate's defence of immunity from suit - defendants acted as plaintiffs' solicitors in proceedings with a neighbour in the Land and Environment Court - plaintiffs allege that the defendants negligently advised in relation to those proceedings - credit issues overlap between the proposed liability and damages hearings - facts on which the liability question to be determined not agreed - principles governing separate question application discussed - whether those principles changed after the introduction of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 - HELD: motion dismissed. Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 s 56 Consumer Credit (NSW) Code s 80 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 r 28.2 Cases Cited: Bass v Permanent Trustee Co Limited (1999) 198 CLR 334 Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Clune & Anor [2008] NSWSC 1125 Donnellan v Woodland [2012] NSWCA 433 D'Orta-Ekenaike v Victoria Legal Aid (2005) 223 CLR 1, [2005] HCA 12 Downey v Acting District Court Judge Boulton (No 4) [2010] NSWCA 114 Integral Home Loans Pty Limited v Interstar Wholesale Finance Pty Limited [2006] NSWSC 1464 O'Sullivan v Challenger Managed Investments Limited [2008] NSWSC 602 Tepko Pty Limited v The Water Board (2001) 206 CLR 1 The Owners of Corporation and Strata Plan 61390 v Multiplex Corporate Agency Pty Ltd & Ors (No. 2) [2012] NSWSC 322 Thiering v Daly [2011] NSWSC 1345 Vero Insurance Ltd v Minh Ai Tran [2008] NSWSC 166 Young v King (No 3) [2012] NSWLEC 42 Young v King [2011] NSWSC 793 Category: Interlocutory applications Parties: Brendan King (First Plaintiff) Christina King (Second Plaintiff) Stephen Noel Griffiths (Defendant) David Patrick Baxter (Second Defendant) Peter Millard Jackson (Fourth Defendant) Colleen Anne Schofield (Fifth Defendant) Gary Andrew Green (Third Defendant) Michael James Hewitt (Sixth Defendant) Julie Anne Walsh (Seventh Defendant) Representation: Counsel: J. Anderson (Plaintiffs) G. Craddock (Defendants) Solicitors: File Number(s): 2010/38916