The former Brisbane Grammar School student, who cannot be named for legal reasons, fell victim to notorious paedophile teacher Kevin Lynch during counselling sessions in the late 1980s.

Lynch killed himself in 1997 after being confronted by police investigating claims he abused more than 70 students during his time at the school.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court in Brisbane heard the victim received an apology from BGS and a “pittance” settlement of $47,000 in 2002, with no admission of liability, after months of negotiations and mediated sessions.

The man is the first person to bring a case under the amended statute of limitations laws introduced by the Palaszczuk government in 2016.

The legislative changes effectively removed the time bar limits for victims of institutional sex abuse to bring claims, and gave judges the power to set aside previous agreements considered ‘just and reasonable’ to do so.

Prior to the changes, victims had just three years from the time a sexual abuse incident occurred to bring a claim.

During the one-day hearing, the man sat at the back of the court flanked by his mother and three supporters.

Brisbane Grammar Board of Trustees chairman and Old Boy Howard Stack was also in court for part of the day's proceedings.

The victim’s legal team said the case had been brought in light of the government’s changes to the law, and made submissions to Justice Peter Davis to use his “discretionary” powers in the Act.

However Justice Davis repeatedly called on the victim’s lawyers to provide evidence that the man’s previous settlement was “affected by the [time] limitation” and asked for evidence that his claim was “compromised” by accepting a smaller settlement in 2002.

The court heard the school had the benefit of access to the former student’s medical records, psychiatric reports, school results and history and his employment history up until the time of his claim in 2002.

The victim's legal team argued that after the sexual molestation by Lynch, he suffered a marked “drop off” in his school results - going from a mid-performer to a consistent D student.

However, Brisbane Grammar argued it had “suffered prejudice” because Lynch was dead and could not be called as a witness.

During the hearing, it emerged that prior to reaching a financial settlement in 2002, the school made a “pre-mediation offer” of $150,000 which dropped down to $98,000 and then fell progressively in increments before a final figure of $47,000 was reached.

BGS's lawyers told the court there was no “science” behind the 2002 settlement figure; the parties were simply trying to reach “a number in the middle” that was appropriate.

The court heard that another BGS student, Nigel Parodi, who went on to shoot three police officers in Chermside in May 2000, was another victim of Lynch’s perversions.

Justice Davis said he understood the importance of the landmark case to the parties.

“This is the first case that’s been decided on this legislation, and it would be naive to think this application may stop here,” he said.

“So, I’m obviously going to have to deliver a very detailed judgment … taking into account all the circumstances and all submissions.”

He added he would do the best he could to have the matter delivered as soon as possible but conceded it “might take a little while”.

“I don’t think I’d be making too many confessions if I said I found it a little difficult,” Justice Davis said.

A judgment will be delivered at a later date.