Ministry’s $14m leaky schools’ legal bill

Thu, 26 Nov 2020

The Ministry of Education was billed $14 million in lawyers’ fees for its mammoth leaky building suit against Carter Holt Harvey, according to information obtained under the Official Information Act.It also estimated paying $6.54 million in expert witness fees in the seven-year case which ended in a confidential deal.The ministry alleged Carter Holt’s Shadowclad product - which it had used in more than 800 school buildings – was defective. In 2018 Justice Sally Fitzgerald described the case as “extremely large, probably...

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