PHOTO: CHRIS SKELTON/FAIRFAX NZ – Adina Thorn is among the property litigators who would love to see a specialist construction court established.
A handful of leaky building owners suing multi-national building materials supplier James Hardie huddled at the back of the High Court at Auckland on Monday.
They listened as two senior barristers went head to head over whether there should be a “staged” trial, potentially speeding up the bid for damages by the 1000 or so owners of 365 leaky buildings.
A traditional trial, scheduled for next year, or the year after, could have taken 52 weeks or more, the court heard.
The giant multi-national, which was seeking extensive “disclosure” on each of the 365 properties, had time, and money, on its side, said Adina Thorn, the legal mastermind behind the lawsuit, after the hearing.
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