Miller v Jones [2017] NSWSC 1096

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Miller v Jones [2017] NSWSC 1096 Hearing dates: 20 April 2017; 17 May 2017; 19 July 2017 Date of orders: 24 August 2017 Decision date: 24 August 2017 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Bellew J Decision: (1) The notice of motion is dismissed. (2) The defendant is to pay the plaintiff's costs of the notice of motion. (3) The proceedings are listed for further directions before me on 31 August 2017 at 10.00am. Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Where the defendant was a medical practitioner practicing in France – Where the plaintiff brought proceedings for damages against the defendant arising from alleged negligence in performing surgery – Where surgery was undertaken in France – Consequent necessity to apply French law – Where the plaintiff and the entirety of the witnesses he proposed to call were in Australia – Limited documentary evidence located in France – Defendant a French national who was fluent in English – Plaintiff a resident of NSW who was not fluent in French – Where the defendant sought a stay of proceedings on the basis that the Supreme Court of NSW was a clearly inappropriate forum – Where defendant failed to discharge the onus – Notice of Motion dismissed Cases Cited: BHP Billiton Limited v Schultz (2004) 221 CLR 400; [2004] HCA 61 Hargood v OHTL Public Company Limited [2015] NSWSC 446 Henry v Henry (1996) 185 CLR 571; [1996] HCA 51 McGregor v Potts and ors (2005) 68 NSWLR 109; [2005] NSWSC 1098 Oceanic Sun Line Special Shipping Company Inc v Fay (1988) 165 CLR 197; [1998] HCA 32 Regie National des Usines Renault SA v Zhang [2002] HCA 10; (2002) 210 CLR 491 Voth v Manildra Flour Mills Pty Limited (1990) 171 CLR 538; [1990] HCA 55 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Lucas Anthony Miller – Plaintiff David Jones - Defendant Representation: Counsel: B Dooley SC – Plaintiff A Bartley SC & J Ellis – Defendant