Tyneside Property Management Pty Ltd & Ors v Hammersmith Management Pty Ltd & Ors [2011] NSWSC 156

Tyneside Property Management Pty Ltd & Ors v Hammersmith Management Pty Ltd & Ors [2011] NSWSC 156

The former solicitors were not absolutely entitled to retain the documents in the face of the subpoena because they were treated as having discharged the retainer and, independently, the defendants as third parties had an interest in the documents that would be embarrassed by assertion of the lien. The Court therefore dismissed the application to set aside the subpoena but limited production and access to protect the former solicitors' lien and to prevent access by the plaintiffs.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
09 February 2011
Procedural Posture
Application to Set Aside Subpoena for Production / Procedural and Other Rulings
Outcome
Application to set aside subpoena dismissed; defendants granted limited access to documents produced pursuant to subpoena; plaintiffs ordered to bear the subpoena recipients' production costs.
Legal Topics
['subpoena for Production' "solicitors' Possessory Lien" "former Client's Documents" 'access to Documents Produced Under Subpoena' 'costs']
['civil Procedure' 'legal Profession'] ['subpoena for Production' "solicitors' Possessory Lien" "former Client's Documents" 'access to Documents Produced Under Subpoena' 'costs']

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Procedural Posture

Application to Set Aside Subpoena for Production / Procedural and Other Rulings

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the subpoena for production issued to the plaintiffs' former solicitors should be set aside where the former solicitors claimed a possessory lien over the documents." 'Whether the defendants, as third parties to the solicitor-client relationship, should have limited access to documents produced under the subpoena.' "What terms should protect the former solicitors' lien if production is required."]

Ratio Decidendi

The former solicitors were not absolutely entitled to retain the documents in the face of the subpoena because they were treated as having discharged the retainer and, independently, the defendants as third parties had an interest in the documents that would be embarrassed by assertion of the lien. The Court therefore dismissed the application to set aside the subpoena but limited production and access to protect the former solicitors' lien and to prevent access by the plaintiffs.

Court Disposition

Application to set aside subpoena dismissed; defendants granted limited access to documents produced pursuant to subpoena; plaintiffs ordered to bear the subpoena recipients' production costs.

Orders

  • ["Upon the undertakings of the plaintiffs and the plaintiffs' solicitors that they will not seek or obtain access to the documents produced pursuant to the subpoena, and that they will consent to orders limiting access to the documents so produced to the defendants." 'Order pursuant to UCPR, Pt 33 r 4, that it shall...