Roberts v Manning (No 2) [2020] NSWDC 525

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Roberts v Manning (No 2) [2020] NSWDC 525 Hearing dates: 31 July 2020 Date of orders: 31 July 2020 Decision date: 07 September 2020 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: Grant the defendant's application for these proceedings to be listed together for hearing before the same trial judge, with the proviso that the sequence of the hearing is to be a matter for the trial judge. Catchwords: TORT – defamation – plaintiff brings two actions for defamation against the same defendants – defendants' application for the hearings to be heard together – order for proceedings to listed together for hearing before the same trial judge, with the proviso that the sequence of the hearing is to be a matter for the trial judge Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) ss 56-62 Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) ss 23, 38 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules r 28.5 Cases Cited: Douglas v McLernon (No 4) [2016] WASC 320 Ghose v CX Reinsurance Company Ltd [2010] NSWSC 110 Herron v HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Ltd [2018] FCA 1495 Humphries v Newport Quays Stage 2A Pty Ltd [2009] FCA 699 Oliver Hume South East Queensland Pty Ltd v Barclay [2020] FCA 857 Roberts v Manning Community News Pty Ltd & Anor [2020] NSWDC 301 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Plaintiff: Lennard Bruce Roberts First Defendant: The Manning Community News Pty Ltd (ACN:605502378) Second Defendant: Grace Dianne Morrissey Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff: Ms C Amato Defendants: Mr R Potter