Fletcher v Brown (No 4) [2021] FCA 901

Fletcher v Brown (No 4) [2021] FCA 901

The Receivers were the parties making the application for orders, pressed for additional orders that were refused, and were advancing their own interests in preserving the ability to claim equitable liens rather than the interests of creditors. The principles concerning liquidators or trustees acting for an estate did not apply, and there was no basis to limit recovery to assets over which the Receivers were appointed. The Receivers therefore had to pay the Trustee's costs, with assessment on a lump sum basis.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
03 August 2021
Procedural Posture
Costs Court Appointed Receivers / Determined on the Papers After Submissions on Costs Following Orders Made on 14 July 2021
Outcome
The Receivers were ordered to pay the Trustee's costs, and relevant costs were referred to a Registrar for lump sum assessment.
Legal Topics
['court Appointed Receivers' 'personal Liability for Costs' 'indemnity Out of Assets' 'lump Sum Assessment of Costs']
['commercial and Corporations' 'corporations and Corporate Insolvency' 'costs'] ['court Appointed Receivers' 'personal Liability for Costs' 'indemnity Out of Assets' 'lump Sum Assessment of Costs']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Costs Court Appointed Receivers / Determined on the Papers After Submissions on Costs Following Orders Made on 14 July 2021

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the Receivers' former status as court-appointed receivers placed them in a position distinct from ordinary adversarial litigants so that they should not be ordered to pay costs." 'Whether any liability of the Receivers for costs should be limited to an indemnity from the assets of the respondents.' 'Whether the costs should be assessed on a lump sum basis by a Registrar.']

Ratio Decidendi

The Receivers were the parties making the application for orders, pressed for additional orders that were refused, and were advancing their own interests in preserving the ability to claim equitable liens rather than the interests of creditors. The principles concerning liquidators or trustees acting for an estate did not apply, and there was no basis to limit recovery to assets over which the Receivers were appointed. The Receivers therefore had to pay the Trustee's costs, with assessment on a lump sum basis.

Court Disposition

The Receivers were ordered to pay the Trustee's costs, and relevant costs were referred to a Registrar for lump sum assessment.

Orders

  • ["The Receivers must pay the first respondent's trustee in bankruptcy's costs of and incidental to the applicants' and Receivers' application for the orders that are set out in the minutes that were sent to the court on 28 June 2021 and 13 July 2021." 'The costs referred to in the preceding paragraph, and the costs...