Permanent Trustee v Keogh [1999] NSWSC 883

Permanent Trustee v Keogh [1999] NSWSC 883

A Bullock order was appropriate because the plaintiffs reasonably and properly joined both the valuers and the solicitors: each had received written instructions which, if complied with, would have led to discovery of the s 310 Order, and the claims against them were interdependent and alternative. It was necessary and just for the solicitors to be joined in the litigation against the valuers, even though the valuers had not otherwise blamed the solicitors except by cross-claim.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
02 September 1999
Procedural Posture
Costs Application; Bullock Order / After Judgment for the Plaintiffs Against the Fourth to Seventh Defendants on 22 July 1999, With Costs Reserved
Outcome
Bullock order made in favour of the plaintiffs against the fourth to seventh defendants.
Legal Topics
['bullock Order' 'costs of Successful Defendants' 'joinder of Defendants' 'interdependent and Alternative Claims']
['civil Procedure' 'costs'] ['bullock Order' 'costs of Successful Defendants' 'joinder of Defendants' 'interdependent and Alternative Claims']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Costs Application; Bullock Order / After Judgment for the Plaintiffs Against the Fourth to Seventh Defendants on 22 July 1999, With Costs Reserved

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the plaintiffs could recover from the fourth to seventh defendants, under a Bullock order, costs which the plaintiffs became liable to pay to the first and second defendants after those defendants were dismissed from the proceedings.' 'Whether the joinder of the solicitors and the valuers was reasonable and proper in circumstances where both had been given written instructions which, if complied with, would have disclosed the s 310 Order.']

Ratio Decidendi

A Bullock order was appropriate because the plaintiffs reasonably and properly joined both the valuers and the solicitors: each had received written instructions which, if complied with, would have led to discovery of the s 310 Order, and the claims against them were interdependent and alternative. It was necessary and just for the solicitors to be joined in the litigation against the valuers, even though the valuers had not otherwise blamed the solicitors except by cross-claim.

Court Disposition

Bullock order made in favour of the plaintiffs against the fourth to seventh defendants.

Orders

  • ["The fourth to seventh defendants pay the plaintiffs' costs of the proceedings, including the costs payable by the plaintiffs to the first and second defendants." 'The costs ordered to be paid include the costs of the reference to Mr W H Nicholas QC.']