David William Pallas & Julie Ann Pallas as trustees for the Pallas Family Superannuation Fund v Lendlease Corporation Limited; Martin John Fletcher v Lendlease Corporation Limited [2019] NSWSC 1631

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: David William Pallas & Julie Ann Pallas as trustees for the Pallas Family Superannuation Fund v Lendlease Corporation Limited; Martin John Fletcher v Lendlease Corporation Limited [2019] NSWSC 1631 Hearing dates: 21 November 2019 with prior written submissions Date of orders: 21 November 2019 Decision date: 21 November 2019 Jurisdiction: Equity - Commercial List Before: Hammerschlag J Decision: Proceedings consolidated. Application for joint solicitors on the record for the plaintiffs refused. Catchwords: REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDINGS – Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) pt 10 – where duplicate sets of representative proceedings (class actions) are commenced in the Court against the same defendants with different solicitors on the record – whether the Court should relax the one solicitor for plaintiffs rule and permit joint solicitors on the record – procedure to be adopted for determining the question which solicitor should be on the record – HELD – the rule should not be relaxed – HELD FURTHER – If the question which solicitor should be on the record cannot be agreed between the parties, an expeditious abbreviated procedure of the type used to resolve forum non conveniens disputes should be adopted to resolve the question. Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Cases Cited: Carnie v Esanda Finance Corporation Ltd (1996) 38 NSWLR 465 Goold & Porter Pty Ltd v Housing Commission [1974] VR 102 Herbert v Badgery (1893) 14 LR (NSW) Eq 321 Konneh v New South Wales (No 2) [2013] NSWSC 390 Lewis v Daily Telegraph Ltd (No 2) [1964] 2 QB 601 Southernwood v Brambles Ltd (2019) 137 ACSR 540 Spiliada Maritime Corp v Cansulex Ltd [1987] AC 460 Spotlight Pty Ltd v Maintek Roofing Pty Ltd [2017] NSWSC 165 Voth v Manildra Flour Mills Pty Ltd (1990) 171 CLR 538 Wedderburn v Wedderburn (1853) 17 Beav 158, 51 ER 993 Zonia Holdings Pty Ltd v Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd (No 2) [2019] FCA 1061 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: David William Pallas & Julie Ann Pallas as trustees for the Pallas Family Superannuation Fund – Plaintiffs in proceedings 2019/122037 Martin John Fletcher – Plaintiff in proceedings 2019/244030 Lendlease Corporation Limited – First Defendant in both proceedings Lendlease Responsible Entity Limited as responsible entity for Lendlease Trust – Second Defendant in both proceedings Representation: Counsel: R.G. McHugh SC with W.A.D. Edwards and R.J. May – Plaintiffs in both proceedings E.A. Collins SC with E. Bathurst – First and Second Defendants in both proceedings