Coote v Kelly [2013] NSWCA 357

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Coote v Kelly [2013] NSWCA 357 Hearing dates: 8 and 9 October 2013 Decision date: 28 October 2013 Before: Basten JA at [1]; Hoeben JA at [2]; Leeming JA at [3] Decision: Appeal allowed, judgment and orders of the Court made on 14 March 2012 be set aside, and there be a new trial. [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: APPEAL - challenge to findings of fact - failure to address inconsistencies in evidence - issues not resolved by findings as to credibility and reliability - need to address failure of four practitioners to observe key element of melanoma relied on by plaintiff - retrial required

NEGLIGENCE - medical practitioner - whether melanoma misdiagnosed as a plantar wart - whether breach of duty - whether finding that melanoma had probably metastasized before failure to diagnose supportable on the evidence Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW), s 5D(1), s 5E Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 51.53 Cases Cited: Abalos v Australian Postal Commission [1990] HCA 47; 171 CLR 167 Fox v Percy [2003] HCA 22; 214 CLR 188 Hawkesbury District Health Service Ltd v Chaker [2010] NSWCA 320 Kirkwood v New South Wales Insurance Ministerial Corporation [1995] NSWCA 244 M v The Queen [1994] HCA 63; 181 CLR 487 Mitchell v Cullingral Pty Ltd [2012] NSWCA 389 MM Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd v Port Stephens Council [2012] NSWCA 417 Paul v Cooke [2013] NSWCA 311 Pollard v RRR Corporation Pty Ltd [2009] NSWCA 110 State Rail Authority (NSW) v Earthline Constructions Pty Ltd (In liq) [1999] HCA 3; 73 ALJR 306 SS Hontestroom v SS Sagaporack [1927] AC 37 Tabet v Gett [2010] HCA 12; 240 CLR 537 Vagg v McPhee [2013] NSWCA 29 Voulis v Kozary (1975) 180 CLR 177 Warren v Coombes [1979] HCA 9; 142 CLR 531 Waterways Authority v Fitzgibbon [2005] HCA 57; 79 ALJR 1816 Watson v Foxman (1995) 49 NSWLR 315 Xu v Jinhong Design & Constructions Pty Ltd [2011] NSWCA 277 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Melissa Anne Coote (Appellant) Dr Steven Kelly (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: BMJ Toomey QC / EG Romaniuk SC / OJ Dinkha (Appellant) TK Tobin QC / JM Morris (Respondent) Solicitors: Stacks Goudkamp (Appellant) Norton Rose (Respondent) File Number(s): CA 2012/100122 Decision under appeal Citation: Coote v Dr Kelly [2012] NSWSC 219 Date of Decision: 2012-03-14 00:00:00 Before: Schmidt J File Number(s): 2011/339988