Licciardo v Hudson & Anor (No 2) [2013] NSWDC 161

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Licciardo v Hudson & Anor (No 2) [2013] NSWDC 161 Hearing dates: 31 July 2013 Decision date: 30 August 2013 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Levy SC DCJ Decision: 1.Verdict and judgment for the plaintiff in the sum of $1,069,461; 2.The defendants are to pay the plaintiff's costs on the ordinary basis unless otherwise ordered; 3.The exhibits may be returned; 4.Liberty to apply on 7 days notice if further orders are required. [Note: The Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 provide (Rule 36.11) that unless the Court otherwise orders, a judgment or order is taken to be entered when it is recorded in the Court's computerised court record system. Setting aside and variation of judgments or orders is dealt with by Rules 36.15, 36.16, 36.17 and 36.18. Parties should in particular note the time limit of fourteen days in Rule 36.16.] Catchwords: TORTS - negligence - motor vehicle accident; DAMAGES - assessment of claimed heads of damage - appropriate method for assessing economic loss - mitigation - relevance of insurer's refusal to pay for plaintiff's treatment - whether plaintiff's pre-injury vulnerability to alcohol abuse was exacerbated by the effects of the accident - effect on capacity to mitigate Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995, s 60, s 63 Motor Accidents Act 1988, s 39 Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999, s 60, s 62(1), s 126, s 131, s 136, s 141B UCPR Sch 7, cl 5(c) Cases Cited: Arnott v Choy [2010] NSWCA 259 Daw v Toyworld (NSW) Pty Ltd [2001] NSWCA 25 Dasreef Pty Ltd v Hawchar [2011] HCA 21 Fazlic v Milingimbi Community Inc [1982] HCA, at [12]; (1982) 150 CLR 345 Graham v Baker [1961] HCA 48; (1961) 106 CLR 340 Hudson v Licciardo [2010] NSWCA 346 Jovanovski v Billbergia Pty Ltd [2011] NSWCA 135 Licciardo v Hudson (No 1) [2009] NSWDC 289 Luxton v Vines [1952] HCA 19; (1952) 85 CLR 352 Mahony v Watson [2003] NSWCA 259 Malec v JC Hutton Pty Limited [1990] HCA 20; (1990) 169 CLR 638 Makita (Australia) Pty Ltd v Sprowles [2001] NSWCA 305; (2001) 52 NSWLR 705; Mason v Demasi [2009] NSWCA 227 Medlin v State Government Insurance Commission [1995] HCA 5; (1995) 182 CLR 1 Mt Isa Mines Ltd v Pusey [1970] HCA 60; (1970) 125 CLR 383 Munce v Vinidex Tubemakers Pty Ltd [1974] 2 NSWLR 235 Pham v Shui [2006] NSWCA 373 Purkess v Crittenden [1965] HCA 34; (1965) 114 CLR 164 Rosniak v GIO [1997] 41 NSWLR 608 State of NSW v Gee (aka Michaels) [2002] NSWCA 326 Strinic v Singh [2009] NSWCA 15 Watts v Rake [1960] HCA 58; (1960) 108 CLR 158 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Shane Licciardo (Plaintiff) Tamara Hudson (First defendant) Stephen Hudson (Second defendant) Representation: Mr A Lidden SC with Mr M Daley (Plaintiff) Mr S Torrington (Defendants) Brydens (Plaintiff) Curwoods (Defendants) File Number(s): 2007/292236 Publication restriction: None