Mathews v Schuler [2019] NSWDC 203

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Mathews v Schuler [2019] NSWDC 203 Hearing dates: 28-29 June 2018; 3-6 September 2018; 29-30 November 2018; 6 February 2019; 29 March 2019 (written submissions); 26 April 2019 Date of orders: 23 May 2019 Decision date: 23 May 2019 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Dicker SC DCJ Decision: (1) Judgment for the plaintiff. (2) The defendant is to pay the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings as agreed or assessed. (3) Leave to the parties to seek within 14 days a different costs order to that set out in order 2 above. (4) The parties are to bring in agreed short minutes of order within seven days reflecting these reasons for decision. (5) Exhibits to be returned at the expiry of 28 days. Catchwords: Torts – negligence – motor vehicle accident – liability not in issue – extent of injuries arising from the accident – whether doctor had backdated documents - extent to which, if at all, the plaintiff's future earning capacity has been affected – whether plaintiff prevented from being a commercial pilot – approach to the award of a buffer for loss of future earning capacity – plaintiff's credit strongly attacked by defendant Legislation Cited: Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW) Cases Cited: Afoa v McBride [2017] NSWCA 323 Allianz Australia Insurance Limited v Kerr [2012] NSWCA 12 Boateng v Dharamdas [2016] NSWCA 183 Briginshaw v Briginshaw [1938] HCA 34; (1938) 60 CLR 336 Croucher v Cachia [2016] NSWCA 132 Cubillo v Commonwealth (No 2) [2000] FCA 1084; (2000) 103 FCR 1 Danckert v Tonkin [2015] NSWSC 1570 Davis v Swift [2014] NSWCA 458 Fox v Percy [2003] HCA 22; (2003) 214 CLR 118 Graham v Baker [1961] HCA 48; (1961) 106 CLR 340 Grills v Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 72 Karabay v Carr [2014] NSWCA 143 Leung v Fordyce [2019] NSWSC 18 Mason v Demasi [2009] NSWCA 227 New South Wales v Moss [2010] NSWCA 133; (2000) 54 NSWLR 536 Nguyen v Tran [2018] NSWCA 215 Polo v Nominal Defendant [2019] NSWDC 53 Sangha v Baxter [2009] NSWCA 78 Sretenovic v Reed [2009] NSWCA 280 Strong v Woolworths Ltd [2012] HCA 5; (2012) 246 CLR Category: Principal judgment Parties: Aylwin Mathews (Plaintiff) Jennifer Schuler (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: P Mooney SC (Plaintiff) B Wilson (Defendant)