A second application for interlocutory relief (including leave to commence proceedings out of time under s 109 of the Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW)) is not necessarily an abuse of process merely because the additional evidence relied upon was available at the time of the first application. The overriding requirement is that the outcome be just, and the court must weigh the injustice to the applicant — including the prospect of professional negligence proceedings against former legal advisers — against any prejudice to the respondent. A trial judge who dismisses a second application as an abuse of process without considering the merits commits an error of law if the interests of justice have not been assessed.
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