10 Nov 2022
Because the defendants' opposition to the plaintiffs' prospective costs application was unreasonable in circumstances where both parties had no financial interest and mutual prospective costs orders were likely, the defendants must bear their own costs for that opposition and no costs award is made in their favour for the interlocutory application.
12 Mar 2021
The Court declined to recall its October 2020 judgment and held that a single set of costs previously awarded for the appeal (standard appeal, band A, with usual disbursements and certification for second counsel) fairly covered the consolidated appeal, cross-appeal and costs appeal; no separate costs awards for the cross-appeal or costs appeal were justified, and the appellants must pay $478 to the respondent for this application.
28 Aug 2020
Plaintiff entitled to recover solicitor and client costs under clause 42(b) but the claimed professional fees required adjustment for reasonableness and overlap with third‑party related work. The court reduced the contractual indemnity apportionment from 59% to 50% to reflect Sanli‑related work and excluded identified improper scale items, resulting in an award of $178,945.50 (50% of claimed $357,891) under clause 42(b), scale costs of $51,165.50 under the High Court Rules, total costs of $230,111 and disbursements of $25,963.80.
7 Jul 2020
The contractual indemnity in the lease entitled the applicant to recover solicitor and client costs; having reviewed rates, time spent and the factual background (including respondent conduct and overlap with a separate commercial dispute), the Court concluded the fees charged ($27,280 plus $540 disbursements) were within a reasonable range and awarded the full amount claimed.
11 Jun 2020
Section 24 of the Defamation Act 1992 grants the plaintiff an entitlement to solicitor and client costs as an indemnity for successful defamation claims; that indemnity is payable irrespective of the defendant's subjective view of reasonableness, and the court awarded solicitor and client costs in the sum of $268,291.55 (including GST) to be indemnified by Fourth Estate Holdings (2012) Limited and Todd Allen Scott, apportioned 60% to Fourth Estate and 40% to Mr Scott; proposed deductions by the defendants were rejected and the court ordered costs in terms of paragraph 63(a)–(e) of the plainti…
28 May 2020
Court held Northwest entitled to enforce the Five Owners' Agreement; the20% contractual default interest in clause 42 is not an unenforceable penalty andis recoverable on a daily basis from due dates; the defendants' failure to consentto deposit of the survey plan was an effective cause of Northwest's consequentialborrowing losses and Northwest is entitled to damages of $1,347,244.81 pluscontractual and statutory interest; solicitor and client costs claim subject toseparate affidavited submissions.
23 Feb 2018
The court awarded the respondent its claimed solicitor/client costs of $27,488.28 (including GST) and disbursements of $366.10 because, applying Gilbert, s 124(2) permits recovery of actual reasonable costs of collection and the respondent's costs were objectively reasonable in light of the issues requiring fresh preparation at High Court level due to the applicant's conduct.
24 Oct 2017
Given the straightforward nature of the application for vacant possession and the defendant's unmeritorious position and lack of submissions, the court exercised its discretion to award costs on the 2B scale rather than solicitor/client costs, awarding $7,996.50 to the plaintiffs.
8 Mar 2017
The plaintiff was entitled to indemnity (solicitor and client) costs under the contractual guarantee; applying the Black v ASB factors the court accepted the claimed hours had been spent and allowed the costs claimed, but GST is not payable on indemnity costs and the court noted it would not have awarded full indemnity under High Court Rule 14.6.
15 Sept 2015
Plaintiffs were entitled to summary judgment for unpaid rent and interest under the guarantees but were not entitled on summary judgment to indemnity for losses arising from the liquidator's disclaimer; contractual lease clauses permitting recovery of solicitor/client costs supported an award of indemnity costs, but because plaintiffs only succeeded in part the Court awarded indemnity costs equal to 50% of the amount claimed on a summary judgment basis.