07.11.2010
Issue 5 | November 2010 View original format
The month in summary
This month, the ALRC consulted with the Australian Taxation Office to discuss discovery issues in the context of tax litigation. We were interested to hear about the practical operation of procedures, particularly those effecting the discovery process, set down in Practice Note Tax 1 for matters in the Federal Court’s Tax List. Also this month, the ALRC met with Prof. The Hon Andrew Rogers QC and gained much from his experience as former Chief Judge of the NSW Supreme Court’s Commercial Division, and now as an international legal consultant, specialising in the area of arbitration, mediation and dispute resolution.
We are very pleased to announce the appointment of two new part-time Commissioners specifically for this Inquiry, the Honourable Justice Arthur Emmett and the Honourable Justice Bruce Lander—both for a period of six months. See the media release >>
We are also excited to announce two Panel Discussions that will take place in November – one in Sydney and one in Melbourne – and to invite stakeholders and other interested parties to attend. See below for more details.
Earlier in the month we received UNSW academic Michael Legg’s comment on our last blog post – about pre-trial examinations. As he clearly has expertise in the area, we invited him to contribute his own post as a guest blogger (see below). We may, over the next few months, invite other people with interesting views and perspectives to bring to this Inquiry to submit guest blog posts on specific issues—to add to the debate and encourage discussion. Such posts from guest bloggers will reflect personal views of our guests and will not necessarily be those of the ALRC, but we hope they will add some insights and suggestions of interest to all our readers.
Consultation Paper released next week
We look forward to releasing the Consultation Paper, Discovery in Federal Courts,on 15 November 2010, at which point we will send another newsletter with links and details about making submissions.
The Consultation Paper will be available on the website in html, and downloadable as a PDF. The ALRC will also provide a free CD-Rom copy to stakeholders who specifically request one. To order a CD-Rom, please provide your details on the Order Webform by 12 November 2010.
Please mail me a CD-Rom copy of the Consultation Paper >>
Discuss: Discovery in the Information Age
The interaction of information technology and discovery is usually described with superlatives such as revolutionary, paradigm-shifting, game-changing. It is all that, and probably more, as the litigation process is not immune to changes in society (except for horsehair wigs and robes) and the changes wrought by information technology are on-going. Documents now originate… Read the complete post on the Discovery blog and contribute to discussion >>
Panel Discussions in Sydney and Melbourne
Please join us for inquiring and invigorating roundtable discussions focusing on the conduct of lawyers and ethical obligations in discovery. We will be holding panel discussions in Sydney and Melbourne.
The Melbourne event is on Wednesday 17 November at Melbourne Law School. Panellists include: Professor Rosalind Croucher (President, ALRC), His Honour Justice Ray Finkelstein, Georgina Hayden (Chief Legal Office, ASIC), Sue Laver (General Counsel Corporate Strategy and Customer, Experience and General Counsel Dispute Resolution, Telstra), Bernard Murphy (Chair, Maurice Blackburn Pty Limited), Mr Stuart Clark (Chief Operating Officer, Clayton Utz). RSVP by 12 November 2010.
Download the Melbourne invitation for more information >>
The Sydney event is on Thursday 18 November 2010 in the Law Courts Building, Queens Square. The discussion will be moderated by ALRC President Professor Rosalind Croucher and introduced by Chief Justice Patrick Keane of the Federal Court of Australia, with panel members including The Hon Justice Peter Jacobson, Federal Court of Australia, Rebecca Gilsenan, Principal, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers and Stuart Clark, Partner, Clayton Utz.
Download the Sydney invitation for more information>>