IZUMO MOKKO CO, LTD AND ANOTHER v. T. S. LINES LTD

IZUMO MOKKO CO, LTD AND ANOTHER v. T. S. LINES LTD

The Registrar upheld reduced allowances for costs associated with preparing a skeleton bill (allowing limited photocopying, $2,400 for drafting, and 20 minutes of supervising solicitor time), disallowed the costs for a negotiation skeleton (item 58(5.13)) and disallowed research costs claimed for procedural law (item 58(7)), and held that the taxing officer had no power under existing Order 62 rules to deprive or further reduce the Defendant's taxation costs merely because the substantive bill had been substantially reduced; each party ordered to bear its own costs of the review.

Citation
IZUMO MOKKO CO, LTD AND ANOTHER v. T. S. LINES LTD
Parties
1st Plaintiff: IZUMO MOKKO CO, LTD; 2nd Plaintiff: HUIYANG SHEY CHANG TIMBER CO, LTD; Defendant: T.S. LINES LIMITED
Court
District Court
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
11 January 2008
Case Number
DCCJ3707/2005
Procedural Posture
Civil Taxation of Costs/security for Costs Application / Review of Taxation Decision (post‑taxation Review)
Outcome
Plaintiffs' review dismissed in part and allowed in part: original taxation rulings on items 3,4,5,21,58(5.1) and 59-101 confirmed; items 58(5.13) and 58(7) disallowed in full; each party to bear its own costs of the review.
Legal Topics
Security for Costs, Taxation of Costs, Calderbank Offers, Use of Law Costs Draftsman, Proportionality and Costs Effectiveness
Source Language
EN
Civil Procedure Costs Admiralty/carriage of Goods Security for Costs Taxation of Costs Calderbank Offers Use of Law Costs Draftsman Proportionality and Costs Effectiveness

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Parties

IZUMO MOKKO CO, LTD

1st Plaintiff

HUIYANG SHEY CHANG TIMBER CO, LTD

2nd Plaintiff

T.S. LINES LIMITED

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Civil Taxation of Costs/security for Costs Application / Review of Taxation Decision (post‑taxation Review)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether costs for a law costs draftsman (LCD) preparing a detailed skeleton bill for security for costs are allowable on party and party taxation
  2. 2 Whether costs for preparing a skeleton bill for negotiation are recoverable where negotiation was unsuccessful or the skeleton was not conducive to settlement
  3. 3 Whether research on procedural law by a trainee solicitor is recoverable

Ratio Decidendi

The Registrar upheld reduced allowances for costs associated with preparing a skeleton bill (allowing limited photocopying, $2,400 for drafting, and 20 minutes of supervising solicitor time), disallowed the costs for a negotiation skeleton (item 58(5.13)) and disallowed research costs claimed for procedural law (item 58(7)), and held that the taxing officer had no power under existing Order 62 rules to deprive or further reduce the Defendant's taxation costs merely because the substantive bill had been substantially reduced; each party ordered to bear its own costs of the review.

Court Disposition

Plaintiffs' review dismissed in part and allowed in part: original taxation rulings on items 3,4,5,21,58(5.1) and 59-101 confirmed; items 58(5.13) and 58(7) disallowed in full; each party to bear its own costs of the review.

Orders

  • Deduct $36 from each of items 3, 4 and 5 (photocopying costs)
  • Deduct $5,600 from item 21 and allow $2,400 for drafting the skeleton bill