in South Australia
Issue No. 7 - October/November 2002
Debt Recovery Options in South Australia
by Jamie Watts and Sharon Trounson
Timetable from issuing proceedings to trial
Magistrates’ Court
In the Magistrates’ Court, once the proceedings have been issued and a defence has been filed the court will issue a notice for a directions hearing. The parties are required to attend to discuss settlement.
If settlement is not reached, there will likely be another 1 to 3 hearings prior to trial while the parties sort out such issues as discovery.
From the time of issuing proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court you will obtain a trial date well within a year and possibly as soon as six months. This is subject to any party wishing to drag the litigation out by obtaining expert’s reports and the like.
District & Supreme Courts
Once the statement of claim has been filed and served and an appearance has been filed by the defendant, the court will require the solicitors to attend a status hearing.
At the status hearing, the court will enquire whether the matter is ready to be set down for a settlement conference.
At the settlement conference the parties and their lawyers are required to attend before the court in order to discuss settlement of the matter.
By that stage, expert’s reports would have been produced and pleadings (the statement of claim and defence) will have been finalised so the parties can be in a position to understand each other’s claim.
A number of matters settle at a settlement conference, although in more complex matters the issues are more difficult to resolve in the brief time given by the court to the parties.
The time within which the matter will be set down for trial in the District and Supreme Court is entirely dependent upon the way in which the parties conduct the proceedings however, it would be unusual for a matter not to be listed for trial within a period of 1 to 2 years from the time of issuing.
BANKRUPTCY
Another option to conside...
