Kelly v Atanaskovic Hartnell Corporate Services Pty Ltd

In *Kelly v Atanaskovic Hartnell Corporate Services Pty Ltd*, heard before Judge Driver, the applicant sought leave to amend a pleading. The application was made at a late stage in proceedings, after the close of evidence and effectively at the conclusion of the trial.

The central legal issue before the court was whether to grant the applicant leave to amend its pleading at such a late juncture. This required the court to consider the principles governing amendments to pleadings, particularly when those amendments are sought after the evidentiary phase of a trial has concluded.

Judge Driver dismissed the application. While the specific reasoning is not detailed in the provided text, the dismissal of an application for leave to amend a pleading late in proceedings typically indicates that the court found the proposed amendments to be either unduly prejudicial to the opposing party, an abuse of process, or that the amendments would not cure fundamental defects in the pleading at that stage of the litigation. The court's decision to dismiss the application suggests that the balance of justice did not favour allowing the amendments.

The interlocutory orders made by Judge Driver on 11 March 2021 were that the application be dismissed, with costs of the application reserved.