The Plaintiff's Supreme Court action has proceeded as follows: 20 December 2020 - Plaintiff's Statement of Claim filed. 22 January 2021 - Plaintiff's Amended Statement of Claim filed. 16 February 2021 - Defendants Defence filed. In July 2021 the parties exchanged lists of documents by way of discovery. 11 November 2021 - By consent, the Plaintiff filed a Further Amended Statement of Claim. 10 December 2021 - Defendants Amended Defence filed. 22 February 2022 - Plaintiff Reply filed. 8 March 2022- Close of Pleadings. 22 March 2022 - Defendants Amended List of Documents and Supplemental List of Documents filed, and discovery was undertaken. Between April - May 2022 the parties undertook settlement negotiations before the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory 14 June 2022 - the Defendants applied for leave to amend the Amended Defence filed on 10 December 2021, whereby the Amended Defence is to remain the same, but a Counterclaim is to be added to the amended defence. Provide a written advice to the Plaintiff setting out:

1. The legal basis upon which the Defendant needs to first obtain leave in which to amend pleadings.

2. The rules of court under which the Defendant's application can be brought, together with any advice you may wish to provide in relation to those rules, and their application. 3. The type of application and the appropriate court documents you expect the Defendant to use. 4. In your advice, also consider the basis upon which the Court may refuse the application, including considerations of the case law, the rules of court, and any other legal or equitable principles that apply to this situation