Anderson v Patersons Securities Ltd (No 2) [2019] NSWSC 853

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Anderson v Patersons Securities Ltd (No 2) [2019] NSWSC 853 Hearing dates: 20; 25 June 2019 Date of orders: 11 July 2019 Decision date: 11 July 2019 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Ward CJ in Eq Decision: 1. Pursuant to r 33.4 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), order that the subpoenas issued by the plaintiff on 15 May 2019 to each of Eagle Financial Pty Limited and TWF Partners be set aside and the documents produced in compliance with those subpoenas be returned to the entity that produced those documents. 2. Order the plaintiff to pay the second and third defendants' costs of the notice of motion filed 23 May 2019 seeking to set aside the said subpoenas. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Subpoenas — Application to set aside — Abuse of process –– subpoena issued for the production of working papers and supporting documents used to prepare tax returns of defendants –– whether a legitimate forensic purpose for production –– whether merely a fishing expedition –– whether the issuing of the subpoena subverts the operation of Practice Note SC Eq 11 Legislation Cited: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 33.4 Cases Cited: ACE Insurance Limited v Trifunovski [2013] FCAFC 3 Anderson v Patersons Securities Ltd [2019] NSWSC 852) Associated Dominions Assurance Society Pty Ltd v John Fairfax & Sons Pty Ltd (1955) 72 WN (NSW) 250 Broadway Plaza Investments Pty Ltd v Broadway Plaza Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 410 Hall (Inspector of Taxes) v Lorimer [1992] 1 WLR 939 ICAP Australia Pty Ltd v BGC Partners (Australia) Pty Ltd [2009] NSWSC 307 Lopez v Deputy Commissioner for Taxation (2005) 143 FCR 574; [2005] FCAFC 157 Putland v Royans Wagga Pty Limited [2017] FCA 910 Rinehart v Rinehart [2019] NSWSC 759 Stevens v Brodribb Sawmilling Co Pty Ltd (1986) 160 CLR 16; [1986] HCA 1 The Owners - Strata Plan No 76902 v Roads and Maritime Services [2017] NSWSC 528 Wollongong Coal Ltd v Gujarat NRE Properties Pty Ltd (No 2) [2019] NSWSC 758 Texts Cited: Practice Note SC Eq 11 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Daniela Alejandra Anderson (Plaintiff) Patersons Securities Ltd (First Defendant) Nicola Lesleigh Garrett (Second Defendant) Samuel Mark Renauf (Third Defendant) PPB Pty Ltd (Falcon Prime Pty Ltd) (Fourth Defendant) Acorn Capital Ltd (Fifth Defendant) Albany Capital Investors Pty Ltd (Sixth Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr P Braham SC with Mr S Keizer (Plaintiff) Mr JA Redwood and Ms E Bathurst (First Defendant) Ms M Painter SC with T Bagley (Second and Third Defendants) Mr G Ng (Fourth Defendant) Ms ND Oreb (Fifth Defendant) Ms V Chapman (Sixth Defendant)