Weekly Times | SWANPOOL Football Club’s civil case against the Ovens and King Football League has been referred to an early neutral hearing next month.
The parties were in court in Shepparton last week, where the magistrate ordered the matter to be set down for May 28.
The club’s lawyer Pieter Kruger said both parties would be allowed to outline their case to a magistrate at the hearing, who would then provide an evaluation on what the likely outcome would be.
Kruger said early neutral hearings were designed to manage court flow so cases were not running indefinitely, and to help parties see what direction the case may go.
But the magistrate’s ruling is not binding and does not stop the parties proceeding with the lawsuit if an agreement cannot be reached.
If it did proceed, the case would not be heard by the same magistrate, Kruger said.
Swanpool has also been permitted to seek damages from the league for loss of income.
Kruger said the league would have the opportunity to amend its defence.
“The parties can file any further affidavits that they think should be filed and then the matter will go to the early neutral evaluation,” Kruger said.
