Hart Security Australia Pty Ltd v Boucousis & Ors (No.2) [2014] NSWSC 1815

Hart Security Australia Pty Ltd v Boucousis & Ors (No.2) [2014] NSWSC 1815

The second to sixty third defendants are entitled to indemnity costs from 6 June 2014 as their offer involved significant compromise and the plaintiff acted unreasonably in not accepting it. The June 2013 offer was not a genuine compromise likely to encourage settlement given the plaintiff's case was difficult but not hopeless, so ordinary costs only up to that point.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
18 December 2014
Procedural Posture
Costs Application / Post Judgment
Outcome
Indemnity costs ordered in favour of second to sixty third defendants after 6 June 2014; other costs on ordinary basis.
Legal Topics
['costs' 'indemnity Costs' 'offer of Compromise' 'reasonableness' 'uniform Civil Procedure Rules']
['civil Procedure'] ['costs' 'indemnity Costs' 'offer of Compromise' 'reasonableness' 'uniform Civil Procedure Rules']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Costs Application / Post Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the defendants are entitled to indemnity costs after making offers of compromise' 'Whether the offers of compromise were genuine and reasonable' 'Whether the plaintiff acted unreasonably in not accepting the offers']

Ratio Decidendi

The second to sixty third defendants are entitled to indemnity costs from 6 June 2014 as their offer involved significant compromise and the plaintiff acted unreasonably in not accepting it. The June 2013 offer was not a genuine compromise likely to encourage settlement given the plaintiff's case was difficult but not hopeless, so ordinary costs only up to that point.

Court Disposition

Indemnity costs ordered in favour of second to sixty third defendants after 6 June 2014; other costs on ordinary basis.

Orders

  • ['Vacate order 1 made on 21 November 2014 insofar as it concerns costs.' "Order that the plaintiff pay the first defendant's costs of the proceedings, save for the costs of HWL's unsuccessful application under UCPR r 29.10 (which costs have been ordered to be paid by HWL)." "Order that the plaintiff pay the second...