The defendants moved for leave to require the plaintiff to attend further medical examinations and a further examination for discovery in a long‑running civil action set down for trial.
The parties resolved the medical examination issue, leaving only the request for further discovery.
The court held that leave to conduct additional discovery after an action is set down for trial requires proof of a substantial or unexpected change in circumstances.
While the passage of time and new expert reports did not meet that threshold, amendments to the statement of claim created uncertainty regarding the alleged cause of an aircraft engine failure.
The court granted limited leave for a further examination for discovery of up to one hour strictly concerning the amendments, applying proportionality principles under the Rules of Civil Procedure.
