Feldman v IAC

[2017] NSWSC 112

Supreme Court

New South Wales

• Amendment notes

Medium Neutral Citation:	Feldman v IAC [2017] NSWSC 112
Hearing dates:	10 February 2017
Decision date:	10 February 2017
Jurisdiction:	Common Law
Before:	McCallum J
Decision:	Plaintiff granted leave to file a second amended statement of claim in the form of the pleading annexed to the notice of motion filed 16 October 2016
Catchwords:	DEFAMATION – application for leave to file amended statement of claim naming correct defendant – no issue of principle
Legislation Cited:	Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 12.11
Category:	Procedural and other rulings
Parties:	Yosef Yitzchak Feldman (plaintiff) IAC (first defendant) Emily Shire (second defendant)
Representation:	Counsel: Plaintiff self-represented Second defendant not yet served with originating process
File Number(s):	2016/45119

Judgment

1. HER HONOUR: These are proceedings brought by Yosef Yitzchak Feldman initially against a party named only as “IAC” as first defendant and Emily Shire as second defendant.

2. The proceedings came before me on 9 September 2016 on which occasion the first defendant was represented by counsel. On that date, the first defendant applied to have service of the amended statement of claim set aside pursuant to r 12.11 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW).

3. I acceded to that application. A consideration in the reasons I published that day for setting service aside was the existence of evidence that the entity named as first defendant did not appear to be the publisher of the matter complained of, but was purportedly joined in the proceedings only on the basis that it was the parent company of that entity. In the circumstances, the plaintiff indicated a desire to join as a defendant the entity that publishes the relevant journal.

4. I directed that any application by the plaintiff to join the publisher of the journal known as the Daily Beast as a defendant in the proceedings be brought by filing a notice of motion together with a proposed form of pleading within four weeks (a short extension of the time within which that was to occur was subsequently granted). The plaintiff complied with that direction and has filed a notice of motion seeking leave to join the Daily Beast Company LLC as a defendant to these proceedings. The notice of motion attaches a form of pleading. However, that pleading has not yet been filed.

5. In the circumstances, the appropriate order today is to grant leave to the plaintiff to file a second amended statement of claim in the form of the pleading annexed to the notice of motion. That leave is of course without prejudice to the rights of the proposed third defendant, the Daily Beast Company LLC, to move to have service of the amended pleading set aside.

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Amendments

21 February 2017 - Edit to cover sheet

Decision last updated: 21 February 2017