1 April 2026
John Armstrong
By email:
[FYI request #34233 email]
Tēnā koe John
Official information request regarding Whittome v Director-General of Health
Our Ref: OIA-2526165
We refer to your official information request dated 25 March 2026 for:
1. Total Legal Costs to Date
The total legal costs incurred by Crown Law in relation to proceedings:
CIV-2024-404-845 – Whittome v Director-General of Health: common bundle This should include,
but not be limited to:
-
External counsel fees (if applicable)
-
Internal Crown Law time/costings
-
Disbursements (including expert reports, court filing fees, document management, and
preparation of the common bundle)
2. Breakdown of Costs
A breakdown of the above costs, to the extent held, including:
-
Costs attributable to preparation of the common bundle
-
Counsel vs solicitor time
-
Any third-party/vendor costs
3. Budgeting / Estimates
Any internal budgets, estimates, or cost projections prepared for this proceeding.
4. Funding Source
Confirmation of the appropriation or funding source used to meet these legal costs.
5. Ongoing / Forecast Costs
Any current estimates of anticipated future legal costs for this proceeding.
Level 2 Justice Centre, 19 Aitken Street, Wellington 6011 | PO Box 2858 or DX SP20208, Wellington 6140, New Zealand | +64 4 472 1719 | crownlaw.govt.nz
10154282
2
You requested a breakdown of costs, including “counsel v solicitor time” and “third-party/vendor
costs” under part 2 of your request.
We note that counsel at Crown Law are solicitors, so it is unclear to us who you are referring to
when you use “counsel” and “solicitor” in this part of your request. Could you please confirm
whether you are just seeking Crown Law counsel time on this matter?
It is also unclear to us who you are referring to when you request “third-party/vendor” costs. Could
you please clarify what you mean by third-party/vendor?
Without further clarification we are unable to provide the information sought for this portion of
your request.
Please note that any clarification or amendment of a request is considered to be a new request for
the purpose of calculating the maximum statutory timeframe for response—see section 15(1AA) of
the Official Information Act.
Finally, we note that our response to the first part of your request “Total Legal Costs to Date” will
cover costs to 31 March 2026.
Nāku noa, nā
Crown Law
10154282
