Pearce and Pearce

In the matter of *Pearce and Pearce*, Dawe J considered various procedural matters in ongoing family law proceedings. The dispute involved a husband and wife, though the specific nature of their disagreement is not detailed in the provided text. The court's focus was on managing the progression of the case towards a final hearing.

The primary legal issues before the court concerned the management of evidence, the issuance of subpoenas, and the scheduling of future court events. Specifically, the court had to determine the conditions under which further evidence could be filed, the number and timing of subpoenas for documents that could be issued by each party, and the arrangements for the resumption of the part-heard trial.

Dawe J made several directions to facilitate the orderly conduct of the proceedings. These included granting the wife leave to issue twelve subpoenas for documents within fourteen days, and the husband leave to issue six subpoenas, with specific filing and return dates. The court also set deadlines for the filing and service of further affidavits of evidence by both parties. The trial was scheduled to resume in Darwin in January 2014, with a compliance check by telephone link to be held in December 2013. The question of costs thrown away due to a change in the wife's case and a subsequent adjournment was reserved.