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On a fast track to success?
Posted: 05/03/2010
On 25 September 2009, a new ‘Fast Track Directions’ Practice Note was issued by Chief Justice M E J Black of the Federal Court of Australia. The new Fast Track list is designed to deal expeditiously with disputes and aims to have disputes resolved in under 6 months.
Not all disputes are capable of being entered into the Fast Track list. At present, the Fast Track list is only available to proceedings which arise out of, or are related to:
• commercial transactions;
• issues of importance in trade or commerce, personal insolvency or intellectual property (except for patents); and
• the interpretation of commercial documents.
In summary, a Fast Track proceeding under the Directions will generally be run as follows:
1. The applicant will file a “Fast Track Statement”.
2. The respondent will have 30 days from the date of service of the Fast Track Statement to file its “Fast Track Response”.
3. The applicant will have 5 days from the date of service of the Fast Track Response to file a “Fast Track Reply”.
4. An initial directions hearing (“Scheduling Conference”) will be set down approximately 45 days from the date of filing the Fast Track Statement, at which point the court sets down a pre-trial schedule of all interlocutory steps in the proceeding.
5. The trial in the proceeding, usually not exceeding 5 days, will be set down between 2 and 5 months from the date of the Scheduling Conference.
6. Judgment in the proceeding will usually be handed down within 6 weeks of the conclusion of the trial.
In view of the speed at which proceedings in the Fast Track list are conducted, parties may be inclined to enter a proceeding on the Fast Track List with a view of resolving their dispute as soon as possible. However, given that severe sanctions (such as costs orders, rejection of late filings or dismissal of claims or defences), may be imposed for failing to adhere to the timetable set out in the pre-trial schedule, both the applicant and the respondent must be well prepared, think fast and act quickly.
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