Johnston v Elsworth [2018] NSWSC 1844

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Johnston v Elsworth [2018] NSWSC 1844 Hearing dates: 30 November 2018 Date of orders: 30 November 2018 Decision date: 30 November 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: McCallum J Decision: Pursuant to s 61 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 and r 2.1 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, the hearing of these proceedings is expedited; I fix hearing for 4 March 2019 with an estimate of five days; I direct the parties to bring in short minutes of order reflecting a timetable working backwards from that date; pursuant to s 26 of the Civil Procedure Act I refer the proceedings for mediation with a mediator to be agreed by the parties, such mediation to be held on or before 15 February 2019; I note the obligation of the parties under s 27 to participate in good faith in the mediation; in the event of any dispute as to the timetable or any other matter I grant liberty to apply to me up to and including 24 December 2018 after which any application is to be brought before the duty judge; I order that the costs of today's application be costs in the cause. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE – application for expedited hearing – proceedings for medical negligence – plaintiff having poor prognosis – expedition not disputed subject to need to afford defendant an adequate opportunity to prepare Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 26 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Mark Johnston (plaintiff) Frank Elsworth (defendant) Representation: Counsel: D Graham SC (plaintiff) L M Jackson (defendant)