Burrows v Council for the Law Society of New South Wales (No 3) [2018] NSWSC 737

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Burrows v Council for the Law Society of New South Wales (No 3) [2018] NSWSC 737 Hearing dates: 18 May 2018 Decision date: 22 May 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Adamson J Decision: (1) Order the plaintiff to pay the defendant's costs of the proceedings, including the hearing on costs.

(2) Grant leave to the defendant to apply for costs to be specified in a gross sum, such application to be made within 14 days hereof. Catchwords: LEGAL PROFESSION – Law Society suspended lawyer who challenged suspension – proceedings resolved by lifting of suspension – both Law Society and lawyer sought costs – lawyer's unreasonable conduct brought about suspension – lawyer ordered to pay Law Society's costs

LEGAL PROFESSION – duty of lawyers to communicate with regulatory authority in a timely and honest way Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) s 98(4) Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) ss 77, 81, 83, 266, 298, 316, 317, 370, 371, 464, 466 Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Regulation 2015 (NSW) cl 61 Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015 (NSW) r 43 Cases Cited: Nichols v NFS Agribusiness Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 84 Re Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs; ex parte Lai Qin (1997) 186 CLR 622; [1997] HCA 6 Veghelyi v The Council of the Law Society of New South Wales (Unreported, Supreme Court of New South Wales, Smart J, 6 September 1989) Category: Costs Parties: Zali Burrows (Plaintiff) Council for the Law Society of New South Wales (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: R K Newton (Plaintiff) C A Webster SC (Defendant)