Council of the New South Wales Bar Association v Archer (No 3)

The New South Wales Bar Association sought to enforce a summons issued against Sarah Anne Archer, a solicitor, and Barrington Partners, a law firm, as well as the Registrar of the Local Court, Newcastle, related to an investigation into Archer's conduct. Archer applied to set aside the summons, arguing that certain clauses were invalid and should be disregarded. The Bar Association responded to Archer's application and also sought to set aside the summons against Barrington Partners and the Registrar.

The court had to determine the validity of the summons clauses and whether they should be struck out. It also had to decide whether the summons should be set aside against Barrington Partners and the Registrar. Additionally, the court needed to address the issue of document access and the reservation of costs.

The court found that certain clauses of the summons were invalid and struck them out, allowing Archer's application in part. It dismissed the Bar Association's application to set aside the summons against Barrington Partners and the Registrar. The court granted the Bar Association first access to documents produced by Barrington Partners to raise any objections, with specific conditions on access and objection handling. The court allowed the Bar Association's application to set aside the summons against the Registrar. The court reserved the issue of costs for later determination and scheduled further directions.

The court ordered that specific clauses of the summons be struck out, denied the Bar Association's application to set aside the summons against Barrington Partners and the Registrar, granted the Bar Association first access to documents produced by Barrington Partners, and allowed the application to set aside the summons against the Registrar. The court also set out a process for costs and scheduled further directions.