John Ljubomir Atanaskovic and the persons named in Schedule A trading as Atanaskovic Hartnell v Birketu Pty Ltd – Costs [2020] NSWSC 779

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: John Ljubomir Atanaskovic and the persons named in Schedule A trading as Atanaskovic Hartnell v Birketu Pty Ltd – Costs [2020] NSWSC 779 Hearing dates: Written submissions 29 May 2020 and 1 June 2020 Decision date: 19 June 2020 Jurisdiction: Equity - Commercial List Before: Hammerschlag J Decision: (1) Judgment for the plaintiffs against the first defendant for $16,092.66 as at 29 May 2020. (2) Birketu is to pay AH's costs of the proceedings up to and including 16 September 2019, attributable to its claim on the six invoices, assessed on the ordinary basis. (3) AH is to pay Birketu's costs of the proceedings from 10 August 2019 (the date of the first Judgment), assessed on the indemnity basis. Catchwords: COSTS – Solicitors sue their clients for unpaid fees – Clients sue their solicitors for damages arising from frauds committed by an employee of their solicitors – Proceedings heard concurrently – Damages claim is settled but fee claim proceeds – Solicitors succeed in claims on six out of seven invoices but largely fail on the seventh in circumstances where the Court exercises its supervisory jurisdiction in respect of misconduct on the part of the solicitors – Appropriate orders as to costs in the circumstances Cases Cited: Bell Lawyers Pty Ltd v Pentelow (2019) 93 ALJR 1007 John Ljubomir Atanaskovic and the persons named in Schedule A trading as Atanaskovic Hartnell v Birketu Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 1006 John Ljubomir Atanaskovic and the persons named in Schedule A trading as Atanaskovic Hartnell v Birketu Pty Ltd – Supervisory Jurisdiction [2020] NSWSC 573 Oshlack v Richmond River Council (1998) 193 CLR 72 Category: Costs Parties: John Ljubomir Atanaskovic and the persons named in Schedule A trading as Atanaskovic Hartnell – Plaintiffs Birketu Pty Ltd – First Defendant WIN Corporation Pty Ltd – Second Defendant Representation: Counsel: AJ Sullivan QC with J Hutton – Plaintiffs M Ashhurst SC with A Vincent – Defendants