New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Second counsel

Legal area

Court

30 Mar 2023

TURNER v GOLDSBURY [2023] NZHC 682

Citation

[2023] NZHC 682
Court

High Court

Second counsel was not justified because the trial was not complex and the factual and expert evidence was within the normal range; investigation by the defendants' surveyor into restrictive covenants was reasonable and prudent, but a 50% reduction of the surveyor fee was appropriate because the surveyor was not called and those issues were not ultimately before the Court; accordingly costs of $23,900 and disbursements of $20,723.77 are awarded to the defendants.
18 Oct 2022

KAKE v NAPIER [2022] NZHC 2690

Citation

[2022] NZHC 2690
Court

High Court

Appellant awarded costs but reduced because she succeeded on an insufficiently articulated basis which increased respondent's costs; no allowance for second counsel; specific reductions to claimed preparation and appearance time resulted in an award of $9,679.50 costs and $1,870 disbursements.
1 Mar 2022

BATES v AUCKLAND COUNCIL [2022] NZHC 336

Citation

[2022] NZHC 336
Court

High Court

Defendants (Auckland Council and O'Hagan) were entitled to recover 2B scale costs and specified disbursements; costs for joinder of third parties were recoverable from the plaintiff even where multiple third parties were joined in one pleading; second counsel certified for the trial and interlocutory hearing; expert fees and modest external e-discovery costs were recoverable as reasonably necessary; a 50% uplift under r14.6 was justified against the plaintiff for refusing reasonable Calderbank settlement offers (Council uplift from 22 Nov 2019; O'Hagan uplift from 10 Feb 2020); O'Hagan's trav…
21 Dec 2021

WOOLLEY v FONTERRA CO-OPERATIVE GROUP LIMITED [2021] NZHC 3588

Citation

[2021] NZHC 3588
Court

High Court

The defendant Fonterra was awarded costs on a 2B basis with certification for second counsel; costs for the non-party discovery application and associated inspections were allowed as necessary and reasonable; the defendant was entitled to costs for 10 hearing days; the claimed disbursements were generally recoverable as reasonably necessary and reasonable; no reduction of costs was warranted for late disclosure; unresolved disbursements to be fixed by the Registrar.
20 May 2021

TANDEM GROUP LIMITED v ASB BANK LIMITED [2021] NZHC 1135

Citation

[2021] NZHC 1135
Court

High Court

Costs for the interlocutory strike out and summary judgment applications were fixed and payable now on a 2B basis ($8,173.80) because Tandem was entitled to costs on the strike out aspect, the summary judgment and strike out covered essentially the same ground making separation artificial, the affidavit preparation costs are covered by Schedule 3 item 23 and do not attract a separate award, there was no exceptional feature justifying second counsel costs, and the expert witness disbursement is reserved until after the substantive trial.
11 May 2021

TEECE v VEINT Costs Judgment [2021] NZHC 1036

Citation

[2021] NZHC 1036
Court

High Court

Award scale 2B costs to applicants; disallow costs of second counsel because not reasonably necessary given the average complexity, affidavit evidence and written submissions; allow expert fees that were specific to and reasonably necessary for the proceeding but reduce or disallow items that are not demonstrably related or disproportionate, including reducing the planning expert claim to $8,280 (incl GST) and disallowing a $172.50 solicitor witnessing charge.
14 Apr 2021

GRANT v RESTRUCTURING INSOLVENCY & TURNAROUND ASSOCIATION NEW ZEALAND INCORPORATED [2021] NZHC 801

Citation

[2021] NZHC 801
Court

High Court

The Court refused the claimed costs for second counsel and for the media-response memorandum and disallowed disbursements for the expert evidence of Dr Goodwin and Mr Sheppard because the one-day, affidavit-based hearing did not justify second counsel; the media memorandum was an ancillary matter where the respondent prevailed so costs should lie where they fall; Dr Goodwin's evidence was not reasonably necessary or relevant to the Court's decision-making approach; and Mr Sheppard's fees related to earlier proceedings or to the rehearing rather than to this recoverable proceeding. Consequentl…
28 Aug 2020

SKP INCORPORATED v AUCKLAND COUNCIL [2020] NZHC 2215

Citation

[2020] NZHC 2215
Court

High Court

Second counsel was not justified because the appeal was not unusually complex; no reduction for partial success was warranted because the unsuccessful 'change in circumstances' ground was secondary; KPBL awarded 2B costs of $12,189 plus disbursements $110 (total $12,299); Auckland Council awarded 25% of 2B scale costs ($3,226.50); enforcement deferred pending final disposition of leave to appeal.
24 Jun 2020

STILES v STILES [2020] NZHC 1437

Citation

[2020] NZHC 1437
Court

High Court

Court ordered a partial award of costs to the first respondent at one half of the 2B scale, allowed specific claimed items after item-by-item assessment (allowing item 10, disallowing item 13, agreeing hearing length 1.5 days) and, as an exception justified by the appeal's diversity of issues and conduct, allowed an award for second counsel, resulting in a total award of $10,336.75.
29 Aug 2019

NORTHWEST DEVELOPMENTS LTD v ZHANG [2019] NZHC 2146

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2146
Court

High Court

Costs awarded to the plaintiff on a 2B basis; preparation of written submissions and bundle classified as band B (not band C); abuse of process memoranda classified band B; no allowance for second counsel; photocopying disbursement recoverable at 20 cents per page and other disbursements as per plaintiff's schedule.