2 Sept 2020
Costs awarded on a 2B basis because a not insubstantial amount was at issue (necessitating a $1,000,000 security bond), the defendant filed voluminous affidavits and a statement of defence and effectively ran a defence to buy time; these factors made 2B appropriate and justified approval of the plaintiff's schedule of costs and disbursements.
14 Nov 2019
The unsuccessful plaintiff must pay the first defendant's costs; the appropriate scale is category 2B under the High Court Rules 2016 because the matter was of average complexity and time; Lowrie v Hutt City Council (s45 LSA) is inapplicable because the plaintiff is not legally aided; being on a benefit alone does not justify departure from the ordinary rule; therefore costs awarded to the first defendant on a 2B basis and counsel must file a 2B schedule and disbursements for approval.
27 Mar 2015
The plaintiff honestly believed misrepresentations occurred and sought vindication; given the disputed credibility and causation issues it was not unreasonable to proceed to trial and to reject the settlement offers, so an uplift in costs was declined; however defendants' incomplete and late discovery caused additional cost and the appropriate remedy was to disallow the defendants' claimed costs for preparing their list of documents (NZD 4,975), resulting in a costs order of NZD 34,228 in favour of the defendants.