So now, we're going through a sea change in the way mass injury cases are handled.
"But if we make a mistake on the other end and it becomes a serious injury case, then it's too late."
As in the High Court the power is not limited to personal injury cases.
It may be necessary in any other type of personal injury case.
The company has been named as the defendant in more than 325,000 personal injury cases and had spent $1.9 billion defending itself.
Many personal injury cases often last several years before they are concluded.
Most serious injury cases cannot and should not be settled early.
"In any personal injury case, credibility is an issue," he said.
At the time, experts said it was the largest verdict for a personal injury case in history.
No point in it, the ship's hospital was more than full with hundreds of major injury cases.