Kleeman v The Star Entertainment Group Limited and Another (No 1)
[2020] QSC 390 · Ryan J
John Kleeman brought a personal injury claim for $2.2 million against two Star Entertainment companies and ran the case himself without a lawyer. His court documents were poorly drafted, and over nearly two years the defendants repeatedly asked judges to make him fix or clarify them. On the first day of trial, the defendants argued the plaintiff should not be allowed to give evidence about his losses because his pleadings were still inadequate, and that he should be barred from raising matters he had disputed in his reply. The court refused. The judge decided that the plaintiff's separate statement of loss and damage told the defendants enough about the case they had to meet, and ordered that document be treated as the pleadings. The judge also declined to limit the plaintiff's evidence for a technical breach of the rules, while noting he would not have completely free rein. The practical result was that the plaintiff, treated generously as a self-represented party, was allowed to proceed to trial.
Incident & injury
Personal injury claim against casino/entertainment operators; the nature of the incident is not disclosed in this interlocutory judgment.
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 26 October 2020
- Claim type
- PIPA Public Liability
- Proceeding
- Interlocutory
- Plaintiff outcome
- Successful
- Plaintiff age at injury
- Occupation
- Not stated
Outcome
The defendants' interlocutory application to constrain the self-represented plaintiff's evidence on loss and damage (and to prevent him leading evidence of matters refuted in his reply) was dismissed. The court ordered that the plaintiff's statement of loss and damage be treated as the pleadings, allowing the trial to proceed.
Defendants (2)
1 The Star Entertainment Group Limited
Occupier
2 The Star Entertainment Qld Limited
Occupier
Key issues
Kleeman v The Star Entertainment Group Limited and Another (No 1) [2020] QSC 390
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