Taylor v Vivacity Engineering Pty Ltd (No.2)

The parties involved were Taylor and Vivacity Engineering Pty Ltd. The dispute concerned the jurisdiction of the Federal Circuit Court and the Supreme Court of New South Wales in relation to a family provision claim. The matter came before Judge Manousaridis of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Federal Circuit Court possessed jurisdiction over a "matter" that encompassed a family provision claim already pending in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. A secondary issue arose concerning an application to amend the defence, specifically whether leave should be granted for proposed amendments that were alleged to give rise to a separate question.

Judge Manousaridis determined that the Federal Circuit Court did indeed have jurisdiction over the "matter" which included the family provision claim. Crucially, the court held that the Supreme Court of New South Wales retained its State jurisdiction in relation to the family provision claim concurrently with the federal jurisdiction exercised by the Federal Circuit Court. Regarding the application to amend the defence, the court found that the proposed amendments did not comply with the rules of pleading and therefore refused leave to amend.