NSW Civil Procedure Handbook 2025 Book

A new edition of the portable handbook for civil litigation in New South Wales.

NSW Civil Procedure Handbook 2025 provides practitioners with essential procedural and evidence legislation and annotations in a single volume.

Whether you are on your feet in court or meeting with clients and counsel, you are guided to the content you need by features such as thumb tabs, rich tables of contents and cases, shading on annotations, detailed page headings and subject index.

This volume takes selected legislation and commentary from Thomson Reuters’ NSW Civil Practice and Procedure service which, under the guidance of The Hon John P Hamilton KC, The Hon Justice Geoff Lindsay AM and Carol Webster SC, addresses the requirements for practice within the framework of the Civil Procedure Act and Uniform Rules.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS OVER THE LAST 12 MONTHS

These include new and updated Practice Notes issued in 2024 and 2025 by the Supreme Court of NSW and District Court of NSW:

• New Practice Note SC Gen 23–– Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI), which restricts the use of Generative AI in the preparation of affidavits and witness statements, and requires leave for use by experts. The District Court adopted the Supreme Court Practice Note and Judicial Guidelines in  District Court General Practice Note 2: Generative AI Practice Note and Judicial Guidelines
• The Gen AI Practice Notes have been accompanied by rule amendments regarding witness statement and experts’ reports (Part 31); affidavits (Part 35); and submissions and summaries of argument (Parts 51 and 59), and changes to approved forms for affidavits and witness statements (Forms 40 and 163)
• The phenomenon of Gen AI “hallucinating” references is well known – there is a specific requirement for the author of the submissions to verify that citations and references have been checked where Gen AI is used in preparation of written submissions or summaries of argument.
• Practice Note SC Gen 17; Representative Proceedings has been updated and now makes detailed provision regarding court approval of the form of the Important Public Notice and opt out notice
• The Supreme Court and District Court also issued Practice Notes regarding pronunciation of names and forms of address for parties and witnesses: SC Gen 22 - Pronunciation of Names and Forms of Address and District Court General Practice Note 1 - Pronunciation of Names and Forms of Address
• A number of other Supreme Court Practice Notes have been updated:
  • Practice Note SC Eq 4, Equity Division - Corporations List
  • Practice Note SC Eq 13, Adoptions
  • Practice Note SC Eq 7, Equity Division  - Probate and Family Provision List, establishing a new Probate and Family Provision List, with matters managed by a Probate and Family Provision List Judge with the assistance of the Registrar in Probate.

Legislation and commentary have been updated reflecting the re-establishment of the Industrial Court as from 1 July 2024: CPA Part 1 and Part 9, and UCPR Part 1;

Commentary has been updated to include recent Court of Appeal and High Court of Australia decisions such as:

• Birketu Pty Ltd v Atanaskovic [2025] HCA regarding whether an unincorporated law firm is entitled to claim professional fees under a costs order for work done by its employed solicitors
• The Court of Appeal considered whether it should depart from Wigmans v AMP Ltd (2020) 102 NSWLR 199; [2020] NSWCA 104, described as was “plainly wrong” by the Full Court of the Federal Court in Parkin v Boral Ltd (2022) 291 FCR 116; [2022] FCAFC 47, but declined to do so in Pallas v Lendlease Corporation Ltd (2024) 114 NSWLR 81; [2024] NSWCA 83
• Access Training Group Ltd v Jane [2024] discussing costs where there were a number of issues in proceedings on which there were varying degrees of success
• Langdon v Carnival plc (t/as P&O Cruises Australia) [2024] as to awarding costs where an offer of compromise has been made
• The general power of amendment under CPA s 64: Commonwealth v Winston [2024]

A new edition of the portable handbook for civil litigation in New South Wales.

NSW Civil Procedure Handbook 2025 provides practitioners with essential procedural and evidence legislation and annotations in a single volume.

Whether you are on your feet in court or meeting with clients and counsel, you are guided to the content you need by features such as thumb tabs, rich tables of contents and cases, shading on annotations, detailed page headings and subject index.

This volume takes selected legislation and commentary from Thomson Reuters’ NSW Civil Practice and Procedure service which, under the guidance of The Hon John P Hamilton KC, The Hon Justice Geoff Lindsay AM and Carol Webster SC, addresses the requirements for practice within the framework of the Civil Procedure Act and Uniform Rules.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS OVER THE LAST 12 MONTHS

These include new and updated Practice Notes issued in 2024 and 2025 by the Supreme Court of NSW and District Court of NSW:

• New Practice Note SC Gen 23–– Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI), which restricts the use of Generative AI in the preparation of affidavits and witness statements, and requires...
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