Massalski and Riley

In the matter of *Massalski and Riley*, heard by McClelland J, the proceedings concerned a dispute between the parties, presumably in family law proceedings given the nature of the orders. The court addressed several interlocutory matters to facilitate the progression of the case towards resolution.

The court was required to determine the arrangements for obtaining and valuing a specific property, the timing of the hearing, the process for inspecting documents obtained via subpoena, and the exchange of formal settlement offers and financial documents. Specifically, the court needed to decide on the steps to be taken by the respondent husband to obtain building plans and arrange a drive-by valuation of the D Street property, and whether the wife should be permitted to obtain her own independent valuation. Further issues included the management of documents produced under subpoena, particularly concerning potential privacy infringements or oppressive material, and the requirement for parties to make formal offers of settlement and file chronologies and draft balance sheets.

McClelland J ordered that the hearing dates of 30 and 31 July 2018 be vacated and the hearing proceed for three days commencing 1 August 2018. The respondent husband was directed to take reasonable steps to obtain building plans for the D Street property and to arrange and pay for a drive-by valuation, to be provided to the wife's solicitor by 5:00 pm on 30 July 2018. Permission was granted under Rule 15.52 of the Family Law Rules 2004 for the wife to obtain her own independent valuation of the property if she wished to challenge or verify the drive-by valuation. The court also addressed the inspection of subpoenaed documents, granting the husband the right of first inspection by 5:00 pm on 30 June 2018 to identify documents that might infringe third-party privacy or be oppressive, with any disagreements to be dealt with on the first day of the hearing. Pursuant to Rule 10.06 of the Family Law Rules 2004, parties were directed to exchange formal settlement offers and file chronologies and draft balance sheets by 5:00 pm on 31 July 2018. The parties' costs of the day were reserved.