9 Nov 2021
There was no good reason to grant a stay because the principal hearing concerns leave to appeal, the costs review was ancillary, the applicant had complied with the page limit and could expand orally, and any procedural deficiencies could be raised on appeal; accordingly the stay was declined.
26 May 2020
The Court held that expert witness fees can be awarded as a disbursement in the context of interlocutory applications provided the fees are specific to and reasonably necessary for the conduct of the application and reasonable in amount; the expert's work in this case met those criteria and the award of Mr Lazelle's fees as a disbursement was upheld. On the June 2018 multi-issue interlocutory application, where the applications are treated as one for costs, partial success is not defeated by a single significant loss; the appropriate exercise of discretion was to award costs to the plaintiffs…
2 Aug 2010
The Associate Judge's costs decision was set aside because it relied on two determinations that were either irrelevant or plainly wrong: that the respondents were slow to concede and that they acted incautiously in issuing the statutory demand. The decisive Deed of Subordination was produced by the applicant only one day before hearing; the respondents were entitled to adjournments and could not reasonably be held to have known of the Deed; accordingly the applicant must pay the respondents' assessed costs and the respondents are awarded costs for the successful review.
16 Mar 2006
The appeal is dismissed because the Registrar gave the appellants a reasonable opportunity to be heard, the appellants expressly declined further submissions thereby waiving further cross‑examination, and there is no direct evidence that counsel assisting improperly made the decision for the Registrar; assistance by counsel under s148(3) is permissible provided the Registrar retains ultimate decision‑making authority.