20 Dec 2023
The application for a stay was dismissed because the applicant failed to establish the requisite onus: he did not demonstrate likely substantial miscarriage of justice, his claimed impecuniosity was unsubstantiated, his appeal against the strike-out lacks real prospects of success, and the balance of convenience overwhelmingly favours the respondents.
18 Dec 2023
The lease was a sham and a device to enable the registered owner to remain in possession; because the second defendant and the owner acted together dishonestly the second defendant is not entitled to joinder costs, IBuy is entitled to costs against the defendants and a 50% uplift on scale costs for steps after joinder, and the late filing of the costs memorandum is excused by extension of time under r 1.19 given lack of prejudice.
4 Dec 2023
Leave to appeal was declined because the decision under challenge was interlocutory and required leave under s 56(5); joinder after commencement is governed by r 4.56, and the applicant failed to show an arguable basis that r 4.56(b) was satisfied (the applicant was not necessary to adjudicate and settle all questions in the existing proceeding), so no reasonable prospect of success on appeal existed.
1 Dec 2023
The District Court erred in making the Official Assignee's consent a precondition for joinder; on the evidence and applying s17 and the principles in Clark v Libra, Crescent is entitled to be joined without proof of Official Assignee consent, Crescent had standing to appeal, and the one-day filing delay was properly enlarged given the circumstances and the appeal's merits.
24 Nov 2023
Judgment for liability was entered because Elite Legal plainly breached an express contractual obligation to obtain a guaranteed title search; that breach is actionable in contract without proof of damage and the contested issues of causation, mitigation and third-party liability go to quantum not to whether the defendant breached its contract, so liability can be determined now and quantum reserved for trial.
8 Nov 2023
The court dismissed the joinder, leave to appeal, stay and set aside applications because the pleaded allegations did not disclose any tenable cause of action against the proposed join defendants; statutory breaches relied on (Companies Act s10, AML/CFT and LINZ certification) do not give rise to private causes of action or invalidate the transactions alleged; no arguable error of law or fact was identified to justify leave to appeal or a stay; costs were appropriately awarded against the plaintiff on a 2B basis.
6 Nov 2023
Leave of the Court is not required to commence a common law derivative action in the context of a body corporate governed by the Unit Titles Act; standing challenges should be addressed by strike-out, preliminary issue, or at trial rather than by a mandatory leave regime; under r 4.56(1)(b) the Court ordered joinder of Leigh Francis Burney and Diane Florence Burney as fourth and fifth defendants; the Court declined to determine standing on this interlocutory application and left procedural options open to the defendants.
25 Aug 2023
Documents in the respondent's control must be discovered even if held in a trustee or director capacity; the respondent was ordered to provide specified discovery (including solicitors' trust account ledgers) verified by affidavit within identified timeframes, non-party discovery was adjourned as duplicative, and the co-trustee was to be joined as a counterclaim defendant by consent with leave to file a counterclaim out of time.
18 Aug 2023
Leave to issue third party notices was granted under r 4.4(2)(b) because the interests of justice required that the plaintiff's claims against the defendants and the defendants' contribution claims against the third parties, which substantially concerned the same issues (foundation and floor settlement and building consent matters), be resolved in a single trial; the defendants' delay was explained and outweighed by the risk of inconsistent findings and the efficiency of one trial, so prejudice to the plaintiff did not justify refusing leave.
4 Aug 2023
The Court refused to award an uplift under r 14.6(3)(b) because failure to meet the joinder threshold alone did not show the plaintiffs pursued wholly unmeritorious or vexatious argument; standard scale costs on a Category 2B basis were appropriate, awarding $5,497 plus $160 disbursements to the defendants.