Stephen Floyd Bailey & 1 Ors v Redebi Pty Limited trading as PR Design Co & 1 Ors [1999] NSWSC 823

New South Wales Supreme Court CITATION : Stephen Floyd Bailey & 1 Ors v Redebi Pty Limited trading as PR Design Co & 1 Ors [1999] NSWSC 823 CURRENT JURISDICTION : Common Law Division - Construction List FILE NUMBER(S) : 55022/98 HEARING DATE(S) : 12/08/99 JUDGMENT DATE : 12 August 1999

Stephen Floyd Bailey (First Plaintiff) PARTIES : Bailey's Diesel Services Pty Limited (ACN 003 170 769) (Second Plaintiff) Redebi Pty Limited trading as PR Design Co (ACN 002 557 842) (First Defendant) Sherson & Associates Pty Limited (ACN 001 022 993) (Second Defendant) JUDGMENT OF : Santow J

COUNSEL : I D Faulkner (Plaintiffs) R Hunt (Second Defendant) SOLICITORS : Henry Davis York (Plaintiffs) Corrs Chambers Westgarth (Second Defendant) CATCHWORDS : PRACTICE and PROCEDURE — Leave refused to amend defence to add limitation defence — Limitation defence overlooked until close of oral addresses — Governing principles — Courts too lenient? — Prejudice to other party not adequately compensable by indemnity for costs — Relevance of public interest and interests of other litigants — Woolf Rules. ACTS CITED : Supreme Court Rules Pt 20 r1(2) A H and R N Grundy v J B Lewis and others (Cooper J, Federal Court, 21 September 1998, unreported) Commissioner of Taxation v Brambles Holdings Pty Limited (1991) 28 FCR 451 Ketterman v Hansel Properties Ltd [1987] AC 189 CASES CITED : Mehta v Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Rogers CJ Comm D SCNSW, 7 May and 27 June 1990, unreported) Sali v SPC (1993) 116 ALR 625 State of Queensland v JL Holdings (1997) 189 CLR 146; (1997) 141 ALR 353 Technical Team Products v Noble Dunn (1990) 20 NSWLR 221 DECISION : Leave to amend defence refused.