3 Sept 2020
COUPE v LEARMONTH [2020] NZHC 2281
- Citation
- [2020] NZHC 2281
- Court
- High Court
The plaintiff's claim was poorly pleaded and had significant shortcomings but was not, on the available material, shown to be incontrovertibly meritless or vexatious; however, because the defendants gave detailed notice in a Calderbank letter on 19 November 2019 and the plaintiff continued to pursue the claim unreasonably for six more months, an uplift of 50% from 19 November 2019 on scale costs was justified; indemnity costs were not awarded; costs for preparation of submissions for unheared applications were recoverable as they were prepared before abandonment in the customary timetable.