Technology and Construction List update - Stop doing this!

The Honourable Justice Elisabeth Peden, Judge of the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of NSW, used her UNSW Edge Construction Law Intensive presentation to deliver a practical message to litigators: efficiency, preparation and reasonableness matter. In a list carrying heavy volume and significant commercial stakes, she said poor case management, unnecessary motions and overblown court materials waste time for clients and the court alike.

Justice Peden’s presentation focused less on doctrine than on recurring mistakes. She urged practitioners to know the practice note, send consent orders on time, properly notify chambers of discontinuances, confer before seeking hearing dates and avoid burdening the court with material that has not been requested. Her point was straightforward: parties should arrive ready to move matters forward, not argue over avoidable delays, incomplete trial planning or correspondence that could have been resolved between the parties.

She also pointed to several pressure points in the list, including pleading amendments, strike out applications, requests for particulars, security for costs and oversized court books. Across each, the theme was the same: practitioners should narrow issues, explain delay candidly, identify real prejudice and think carefully before launching motions that increase costs without advancing the dispute. For Justice Peden, sensible advocacy is not just good manners in court. It is central to keeping complex construction matters moving and ensuring the real issues are determined as efficiently as possible.

If this topic interests you, you can learn more and receive a CPD point in Substantive Law here