New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Discovery and inspection

Legal area

Court

29 Sept 2023

LEPIONKA & COMPANY INVESTMENTS LIMITED v GIBSON SHEAT [2023] NZHC 2745

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2745
Court

High Court

Apply the pt 14 schedular regime: allow costs only for steps consistent with sch 3 and agreed categorisation (category 2), disallow additional or duplicate step claims inconsistent with the schedule, allow discrete additional inspection where genuine separate tranche of documents provided, permit reasonable disbursements for travel/accommodation and document management, refuse a 75% uplift because the plaintiff had an arguable case and settlement offers did not make refusal unreasonable; award defendant costs on the basis described with limited C-band adjustments and deny broad uplift request…
6 May 2022

LI v COMMISSIONER OF POLICE [2022] NZHC 961

Citation

[2022] NZHC 961
Court

High Court

Applied r14.15 to award a single costs order for overlapping case management steps but granted separate 2B costs orders for distinct elements where defendants could not reasonably rely on each other's evidence; plaintiffs' request for a reduction was denied and specified costs and disbursements were ordered in favour of both defendants.
27 May 2021

T A O’BRIEN AND ANOR v MODERN BUILT INVESTMENTS [2021] NZHC 1203

Citation

[2021] NZHC 1203
Court

High Court

Second counsel costs were not certified; additional three days for discovery and inspection were justified; plaintiffs awarded 2B scale costs (reduced for disallowed second counsel) uplifted 100% to reflect respondent director's unreasonable and prejudicial conduct but not rising to full indemnity; costs and disbursements ordered to be paid personally by Mr Spiers because he controlled the litigation for his own benefit.
3 Sept 2020

BALLANCE AGRI-NUTRIENTS LIMITED v QUIN ENVIRONMENTALS (NZ) LIMITED [2020] NZHC 2275

Citation

[2020] NZHC 2275
Court

High Court

Ballance largely succeeded; Quin's Calderbank offer did not match the injunctions and declarations obtained so the offer was not dispositive but was relevant; costs awarded to Ballance on a 2B scale with a 20% apportionment reduction (reflecting Quin's partial success and the offer), discovery time allowance doubled to reflect extra expense, indemnity costs for the counterclaim denied; Ballance awarded $68,019.20 costs and $37,883.47 disbursements.
3 Jul 2018

WHITE v JAMES HARDIE NEW ZEALAND [2018] NZHC 1627

Citation

(2018) 24 PRNZ 198
Court

High Court

A staged trial limited to the common issues identified in Schedule 1 is ordered because the pleaded common issues (existence/scope of duty, breach, alleged systemic defects, and statutory/FTA claims) are sufficiently demarcated to be justiciable without resolving individual causation and quantum for each property; final scope of stage one is to be refined after tailored discovery and inspection of an agreed or court-determined sample and expert caucusing to protect defendants' right to a fair hearing.
24 Aug 2017

CORRICK v SILICH [2017] NZHC 2033

Citation

[2017] NZHC 2033
Court

High Court

The Court refused indemnity costs but awarded costs to the first to fifth defendants on the 2B band increased by 50% because the plaintiffs' pleadings and conduct caused unnecessary steps and meritless arguments warranting uplift under r 14.6(3); however the conduct did not meet the threshold for indemnity under r 14.6(4). Items 20 and 21 (discovery and inspection) are to be assessed on 2A and defendants may recover preparation costs for the vacated trial under item 33; plaintiffs' set-off arguments and GST position were not accepted or proven.
22 Aug 2017

OXYGEN AIR LIMITED v LG ELECTRONICS AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED [2017] NZHC 1857

Citation

[2017] NZHC 1857
Court

High Court

The court ruled that documents solely revealing LG's internal profits, margins and profitability (categories 28 and 29) are not relevant because an account of profits remedy is not available on the pleaded causes of action; therefore those highly confidential documents need not be inspected. Other Part 3 documents relevant to liability and plaintiff's loss (prices, quantities, sales records) must be made available to plaintiff's lawyers, experts and, subject to a confidentiality undertaking, to the plaintiff's director. Defendant must provide translations of its internal coding; relisting of…
2 Aug 2016

LHL LEASING SOLUTIONS LTD v PINTO LTD (FORMERLY MPL (PINTO LIMITED) [2016] NZHC 1777

Citation

[2016] NZHC 1777
Court

High Court

Although LHL's pre-issue delay was inordinate and unexplained and caused moderate to serious prejudice, Pinto failed to establish that the post-issue delay caused the additional (more than minimal) prejudice required under r 15.2; accordingly the Associate Judge's refusal to dismiss for want of prosecution was correct and the review is dismissed, subject to strict procedural directions (discovery timetables and payment of remaining security).
5 Apr 2016

LEE v WHANGAREI DISTRICT COUNCIL [2016] NZHC 560

Citation

[2016] NZHC 560
Court

High Court

Costs are fixed now rather than deferred; scale costs reduced for incorrect or unnecessary claimed steps and further reduced to reflect costs that would have been payable to the plaintiff on the Council's unsuccessful security for costs application to avoid unfair asymmetry; a 25% uplift is awarded only for the summary judgment application because the plaintiff persisted despite clear notice of the limitation defence but uplift is moderated by the Council's conduct that contributed to the plaintiff's vulnerability; total award set at $46,917.11 (costs $42,579 plus disbursements $4,338.11).
29 Sept 2015

CLODE v SULLIVAN [2015] NZHC 2364

Citation

[2015] NZHC 2364
Court

High Court

Security for costs was ordered because the judge was satisfied there was reason to believe the plaintiffs would be unable to pay defendants' costs if unsuccessful, aspects of the plaintiffs' pleaded case were weak or deficient, the volume of discovery imposed a real burden on defendants, and third party assistance did not remove the need to protect defendants; quantum was fixed at 50% of assessed recoverable costs: $25,000 as security for the First and Third Defendants and $17,500 as security for the Second Defendant, to be provided by 4 pm on 6 November 2015, failing which leave to apply; th…