Shoal Bay Beach Constructions No. 1 Pty Ltd v Mark Hickey and the persons listed in Schedule A to this Statement of Claim trading as at all material times as Sparke Helmore (No 2) [2021] NSWSC 1126

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Shoal Bay Beach Constructions No. 1 Pty Ltd v Mark Hickey and the persons listed in Schedule A to this Statement of Claim trading as at all material times as Sparke Helmore (No 2) [2021] NSWSC 1126 Hearing dates: On the papers Decision date: 06 September 2021 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Adamson J Decision: (1) Order that the costs which the plaintiff was ordered to pay on 12 August 2021 be fixed in the gross sum of $25,000. (2) Order that the amount of $25,000 is to be paid to the defendants from the monies paid into Court by the plaintiff as security for the defendants' costs of the proceedings. Catchwords: COSTS — Party/Party — Application for a gross sum costs order — Principles for fixing costs in a gross sum — Order made with reduction Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 98 Cases Cited: Harrison v Schipp (2002) 54 NSWLR 738; [2002] NSWCA 213 Hamod v State of New South Wales [2011] NSWCA 375 Category: Costs Parties: Shoal Bay Beach Constructions No. 1 Pty Ltd (Plaintiff) Mark Hickey and the persons listed in Schedule A to this Statement of Claim t/as at all material times as Sparke Helmore (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: D Weinberger (Plaintiff) A Zahra SC / J Burnett (Defendant)

Solicitors: William Roberts Lawyers (Plaintiff) YPOL Lawyers (Defendant) File Number(s): 2019/204638

Judgment

Introduction 1. On 12 August 2021, I ordered that Shoal Bay Beach Constructions No. 1 Pty Ltd (the plaintiff) pay Sparke Helmore's (the defendants') costs of and incidental to their notice of motion filed on 3 June 2021, including of the hearing on 19 July 2021. The defendants sought an order, pursuant to s 98(4)(c) of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), that these costs be fixed in the gross sum of $28,309.23. 2. Mr Weinberger, who appears for the plaintiff, informed me that the plaintiff did not wish to respond to the evidence or submissions of the defendants on the question of the amount of the gross sum or the appropriateness of the order. He confirmed that the plaintiff did not require reasons to be given for making such an order or for fixing a sum. In light of that concession, I propose only to give a brief form of reasons for my order.