Sparkman's Electrical Pty Ltd v Habershon

Sparkman's Electrical Pty Ltd, the plaintiff, filed a claim against Habershon, the defendant, for losses incurred due to an alleged breach of an employment contract. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, where the defendants moved to dismiss the case for lack of progress. The defendants argued that the proceedings should be struck out because the plaintiff had not taken any steps in the case for two years, the statutory period under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules. Specifically, the defendants claimed that the last step in the proceedings was either the mediation held in December 2014 or the provision of disclosure in June 2015. The plaintiff notified the defendants of its intention to proceed with the case one week before the two-year period expired, but the defendants argued that this did not constitute a step in the proceedings.

The court was required to decide whether the plaintiff's notice of intention to proceed constituted a step in the proceedings and, if not, whether the proceedings should be dismissed for lack of progress. The court noted that the notice of intention to proceed did not amount to a step in the proceedings, as it did not involve any substantive action or decision by the plaintiff. The court also considered the defendants' argument that the last step in the proceedings was the mediation in December 2014 or the provision of disclosure in June 2015. However, the court found that the mediation was not a step in the proceedings because it was not a formal step required by the court rules, and the provision of disclosure was not the last step because the plaintiff had taken other steps since then, such as filing an application for an order to strike out a third party.

The court refused the application to strike out the proceedings for want of prosecution, noting that the plaintiff had taken steps in the proceedings since the last step and that the defendants had not shown any prejudice caused by the delay. The court also noted that the parties had made some progress in the case, such as filing written submissions on the application to strike out. The court ordered the plaintiff to pay the defendants' costs and directed the parties to confer within seven days to agree on further directions for the conduct of the proceedings. If the parties could not reach an agreement, they were directed to file submissions on the appropriate directions to be made, and the court would determine the orders on the papers unless submissions were made to the contrary.