Bentley v Dr Nguyen [2014] NSWDC 231

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Bentley v Dr Nguyen [2014] NSWDC 231 Hearing dates: 12 December 2014 Decision date: 12 December 2014 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) On the application of the defendants, the hearing date of 2 February 2015 is vacated. (2) Costs thrown away by reason of the vacation of the hearing date, and costs of the Notice of Motion, are reserved. (3) On the application of the defendants for these proceedings to be transferred to the Sydney Registry for case management, these proceedings are listed before Gibson DCJ at 9:30am on Thursday 18 December 2014 for the purpose of referral to an appropriate case management list, if possible. (4) Note the parties are to give consideration to concurrent evidence by the five dental experts retained by the plaintiff and defendants, including the preparation of list of issues agreed and issues in dispute, and that the parties should be in a position to advise Gibson DCJ on 18 December 2014 what their respective experts position is as to the suitability of the dental issues for a conclave. Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - urgent application to vacate hearing date and transfer proceedings from Newcastle to Sydney registry - parties and subject matter have no connecting factors to Newcastle - proceedings listed for hearing on second occasion the matter came to court - complex dental medical negligence action requiring 5 day plus fixture - whether further case management, including concurrent evidence, required - whether speedy trial advantage outweighed other factors - hearing date vacated and proceedings transferred to Sydney registry Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 56 Cases Cited: Kirk Group Holdings Pty Ltd v Workcover Authority (NSW) [2010] HCA 1 Mallegowda v Sood [2013] NSWDC 98 Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc v McGuire [2014] NSWSC 1370 Texts Cited: - Category: Interlocutory applications Parties: Plaintiff: Katrina Bentley First Defendant: Dr Peter Nguyen Second Defendant: Dr Medhat Melek Third Defendant: South Eastern Sydney Local Health District Representation: Plaintiff: Ms S Posniak (solicitor) First Defendant: Ms A Brown (solicitor) Second and Third Defendants: Mentioned by Ms A Brown Plaintiff: Catherine Henry Partners First Defendant: Meridian Lawyers Second Defendant: Tresscox Lawyers Third Defendant: Crown Solicitor's Office (NSW) File Number(s): 2014/84447 Publication restriction: None