Hampton & Farley & Ors

In the matter of *Hampton & Farley & Ors*, Coleman J granted leave for Mr Farley Jnr and Farley and Son Pty Ltd to intervene as the second and third respondents in the proceedings. The case involved a dispute requiring determination by the court, with a hearing scheduled to commence on 17 December 2012 in the Sydney Registry for a duration of five days.

The primary legal issues before the court concerned the management of expert evidence. Specifically, the court was required to determine how to facilitate the resolution of disagreements between experts and to ensure that any controversial expert opinion evidence was properly addressed before the hearing. This included establishing a process for experts to confer and to formally record their points of contention.

Coleman J ordered that by 10 November 2012, experts providing controversial opinion evidence were to confer. Following this conference, they were to provide a countersigned memorandum by 30 November 2012. This memorandum was to detail every point of disagreement, the underlying reasons for each disagreement, and the comparable sales relied upon by each expert to support their respective opinions. Furthermore, leave was granted to all parties to inspect the court file.