Hintz v Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District

The plaintiff, Wade Hintz, has brought proceedings against the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (the defendant) for damages for nervous shock arising from the death of his father. These proceedings have been listed for hearing with associated matters with an estimate of seven days to commence before this Court on 29 November 2021.

I am informed by Mr Toomey SC, who appears with Mr Smith for the plaintiff, that the associated matters have settled, leaving only Mr Hintz’s claim for damages for nervous shock. The plaintiff applied for the matter to be transferred to the District Court on the basis that it is common ground that any damages likely to be awarded to Mr Hintz will be well within the jurisdictional limit of the District Court. Mr Bradley, who appears on behalf of the defendant, submitted that the question of transfer was a matter for the Court but that, if the matter remained in this Court, the defendant would not take the point that the proceedings ought to have been commenced in the District Court.

While one can understand why these proceedings were commenced in this Court, having regard to the number of associated matters and the potential complexity of the matters, I consider that it would be appropriate to transfer the single outstanding matter to the District Court.

Section 146(4) of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) provides that proceedings in this Court on a claim for damages arising from personal injury or death are to be transferred, unless the Supreme Court is satisfied relevantly that the case involves complex legal issues or issues of general public importance, or the amount to be awarded is likely to exceed the jurisdictional limit, or there are other sufficient reasons for hearing the proceedings in the Supreme Court.

On the one hand, there are potentially interesting and possibly complex factual questions of causation and negligence arising from the claim for damages for the nervous shock matter. On the other, the total damages claimed are well within the jurisdictional limit of the District Court and such claims are routinely brought in that court.

For these reasons, I make the following orders: