Manasse v Shine Lawyers Pty Ltd

In Manasse v Shine Lawyers Pty Ltd, the respondent instituted proceedings against her former solicitors, Shine Lawyers, for professional negligence in the Central Registry at Rockhampton. Shine Lawyers subsequently filed an application to transfer the proceeding from the Central Registry to Brisbane. The court was tasked with determining whether the proceeding should be transferred to Brisbane, given the lack of connection to the central region in respect of the initial cause of action. The respondent argued that she had engaged solicitors residing in the central region, and she intended to call expert witnesses from the central region.

The legal issues before the court centred around the appropriate venue for the trial, considering the availability and necessity of expert evidence being presented from the central region. The court had to consider whether the use of audio visual links or audio links would affect the court’s ability to assess the credibility or reliability of the experts’ evidence, as per section 39PB(4)(b) of the Evidence Act 1977 (Qld). Additionally, the court needed to determine if there were appropriate audio or audio visual facilities available in the Rockhampton court, and whether there was a submission by any party about the way in which the person should give evidence.

The court found that there was no compelling reason to transfer the proceedings to Brisbane. It was noted that there were appropriate facilities available in Rockhampton to allow experts to give evidence via audio visual or audio links. Furthermore, the court acknowledged that the necessity to show MRI scan images to the trial judge could not be adequately addressed via telephone. Consequently, the application to transfer the proceeding to Brisbane was dismissed. The court reserved costs.