Event and Time
Event Description
In this case, a plaintiff sought to amend their pleadings to include an expert report that was received after the filing of a pre-filing statement. This situation arose under the context of the Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998 (NSW), particularly referring to Section 318, which deals with amendments to claims based on new or previously unavailable material.
Application and Claims
- The plaintiff applied for leave to rely on an expert report from Mr. Luke Murphy dated 5 October 2022.
- The core of the application was whether the report constituted "materially different" information to the initial pre-filing statement, and whether such material was "reasonably available" at the time the pre-filing statement was filed.
Judicial Decisions
- The court granted the plaintiff permission to rely on the expert report.
- The court also granted leave to file a further amended statement of claim.
- Additional case management orders were issued, as referenced in paragraph [78] of the decision.
Dispute Points and Legal Basis
Dispute Points
Plaintiff's Arguments
- The plaintiff contended that the expert report provided information necessary for the case that was not available at the time of the pre-filing statement.
- They argued that the material was relevant and directly impacted the claims therein.
Respondent's Arguments
- The respondent might argue that amending the pleadings after the pre-filing statement could undermine the procedural fairness and delay the proceedings.
- They may assert that the information in the expert report is either not materially different from the existing claims or that it could have been obtained prior to the pre-filing statement.