Kendrovski v Ardent Leisure Ltd t/as D'Albora Marinas

The plaintiff, Kendrovski, brought an action against Ardent Leisure Ltd, trading as D'Albora Marinas, in the Civil Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The plaintiff claimed damages for personal injuries sustained in a fall on a pontoon operated by the defendant. The defendant sought an order under section 56 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) for the plaintiff to produce certain documents. The plaintiff opposed the application on the basis that the documents were irrelevant and the cost of producing them was disproportionate to their relevance.

The court had to determine whether the documents sought by the defendant were relevant and whether the plaintiff was required to produce them under the Civil Procedure Act. The court also needed to consider whether the plaintiff should be granted leave to rely on an expert report, and whether the delay in applying to lead further expert evidence was justifiable.

The court held that the documents were relevant to the testing of the conclusions of the plaintiff's expert, and that the cost of producing them did not outweigh their relevance. The court further held that the plaintiff's explanation for the delay in applying to lead further expert evidence was unsatisfactory and that granting leave would be unjust. The court refused the defendant's application for an order to produce and denied leave to the plaintiff to rely on the expert report.

The court ordered that the defendant pay the plaintiff's costs of the application for an order to produce, and that the plaintiff pay the defendant's costs of the application for leave to rely on an expert report.