New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Discovery

Legal area

Court

18 Dec 2023

100 INVESTMENTS LTD v WALKER [2023] NZHC 3740

Citation

[2023] NZHC 3740
Court

High Court

Leave for LPF to reapply was refused because r 7.52 applied and LPF did not establish the requisite 'special circumstances'; SPF's application for security for costs was refused because it failed to establish an evidential foundation from which an adverse inference of Mr Whitley's inability to pay could be drawn (funding and trustee-held properties did not suffice); LPF's application for leave to appeal was refused because the proposed appeal did not raise a seriously arguable error with reasonable prospects of success and did not justify the cost and delay of an appeal.
21 Nov 2023

MORRISON v FINANCIAL MARKETS AUTHORITY [2023] NZHC 3307

Citation

[2023] NZHC 3307
Court

High Court

The Court declined to award indemnity or increased costs to the plaintiffs; applied ordinary costs principles to mixed-success outcome: FMA, as successful defendant on the sole cause of action against it, was entitled to 2B scale costs and disbursements; the Attorney-General was ordered to pay plaintiffs 50% of their claimed 2B costs for the successful NZBORA cause (reduced by $5,000 to reflect partial failure), amended pleading costs disallowed, FMA discovery costs allowed at 2C, and no costs for second counsel were awarded. Sanderson and Bullock orders were inappropriate because the plainti…
15 Nov 2023

MORRISON v FINANCIAL MARKETS AUTHORITY [2023] NZHC 3215

Citation

[2023] NZHC 3215
Court

High Court

The Court declined to award indemnity or increased costs to the plaintiffs; applied ordinary costs principles given mixed success: FMA is entitled to scale costs for the dismissed tort claim; the Attorney-General must pay the plaintiffs 2B costs of NZD 13,881 plus disbursements NZD 9,115 for the successful NZBORA cause of action (reflecting a 50% allocation of plaintiffs' claimed costs with a NZD 5,000 reduction for mixed success); plaintiffs are jointly liable to pay the FMA 2B costs NZD 41,586 plus disbursements NZD 220; Sanderson and Bullock orders are inappropriate because the causes of a…
9 Nov 2023

ROEBUCK v LIDDLE [2023] NZHC 3149

Citation

[2023] NZHC 3149
Court

High Court

The draft notice and internal email were prepared for the purpose of being laid before the Council's legal advisers and arose out of the solicitor-client relationship; therefore they attract legal advice privilege under s54 Evidence Act 2006, the plaintiffs identified no arguable error of law or fact to justify leave, and leave to appeal was refused.
31 Oct 2023

STRANGE v CASEY FARMS LIMITED [2023] NZHC 3054

Citation

[2023] NZHC 3054
Court

High Court

The amended statement of claim disclosed no reasonably arguable cause of action because the plaintiff lacked standing—he was not a party to the sale, had no pleaded proprietary or beneficiary interest, and did not plead viable tort claims; the pleading was defective and speculative; accordingly the proceeding was struck out.
26 Oct 2023

WOOLLEY v MARLBOROUGH DISTRICT COUNCIL [2023] NZHC 2995

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2995
Court

High Court

The judge dismissed the application for leave to cross-examine because the application could be dealt with on the papers and cross-examination was not necessary at this interim procedural stage; detailed reasons were reserved and to be issued with the substantive judgment on the discovery application.
19 Oct 2023

XU v MENG [2023] NZHC 2915

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2915
Court

High Court

The Court refused discovery for tracing the destination and use of defendants' income as irrelevant and disproportionate where plaintiffs sought only monetary relief and made no proprietary tracing claim; plaintiffs were not entitled to discovery on issues not engaged by their pleading (commercial rent) but the Court ordered limited, proportionate discovery: defendants must produce bank statements evidencing income received from the Property and redacted bank statements evidencing payments to plaintiffs; plaintiffs must produce mortgage loan documents and documentation of outgoings (invoices/…
9 Oct 2023

HEALTHALLIANCE NZ LTD v HEWLETT-PACKARD [2023] NZHC 2828

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2828
Court

High Court

The Court held that litigation privilege did not attach to the correspondence surrounding the Deeds of Assignment and Indemnity and that the bulk of the challenged redactions were unjustified and must be disclosed; however, specific passages that plainly constitute solicitor-client communications or privileged legal advice shared on a common-interest basis remain protected and need not be disclosed.
28 Sept 2023

AOKAUTERE v CIR [2023] NZHC 2706

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2706
Court

High Court

The presumption that costs follow a discontinuance was not displaced because the applicant lacked evidential support for its substantive allegations, its discovery application was dismissed as speculative, and the Commissioner’s subsequent audit did not ensure the applicant could obtain amended assessments or a refund of amounts seized; accordingly costs were awarded to the Commissioner in the sum of $15,650.28.
29 Aug 2023

MOORHOUSE COMMERCIAL PARK LIMITED v VERO INSURANCE NEW ZEALAND LIMITED [2023] NZHC 2377

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2377
Court

High Court

Court awarded costs in favour of the defendant on the 2B scale with specific modifications: certified second counsel; declined to reallocate further steps to band A; consolidated multiple inspections of discovery into a single Band C claim; calculated preparation for briefs and hearing on the actual 10-day hearing length (not the originally scheduled 13 days); applied a 35% uplift to scale costs for all steps after the Calderbank offer dated 22 June 2021 for unreasonable refusal and pursuit of unmeritorious arguments; reduced BMC consulting fees to $60,000 to reflect duplication with subseque…