Neale v Commonwealth Bank of Australia

In *Neale v Commonwealth Bank of Australia*, the appellants sought to appeal a decision, but had delayed in serving their notice of appeal. The respondent applied for dismissal of the appeal for want of prosecution. The matter came before Leeming JA in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether to grant the appellants an extension of time to file and serve their notice of appeal, despite the delay and the respondent's application for dismissal. The Court also considered the respondent's application for dismissal for want of prosecution.

Leeming JA granted the appellants leave to file and serve an amended Notice of Appeal and written submissions by a specified date. This grant was made subject to a "guillotine order," meaning that if the appellants failed to comply with this filing requirement, their proceedings would be dismissed, and they would be ordered to pay the respondent's costs. The Court also ordered the respondents to file their submissions within four weeks of the appellants filing theirs, and otherwise dismissed the respondents' notice of motion seeking dismissal, with the appellants to pay the costs of that motion.