Bonanno v Finamore (No 2) [2022] NSWSC 641

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Bonanno v Finamore (No 2) [2022] NSWSC 641 Hearing dates: On the papers Date of orders: 23 May 2022 Decision date: 23 May 2022 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Robb J Decision: Without affecting the validity of any prior costs orders made by the Court in these proceedings, order the plaintiff to pay 60% of the defendants' costs of the proceedings on the ordinary basis. Catchwords: ESTOPPEL — issue estoppel — decisions to which applicable — Court made orders by consent as to agreed facts in accordance with Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), s 191 — parties agreed on monetary amount of one-third share of net income of property in the case that the Court found the plaintiff to be entitled to one-third share in income — order quantifies amount that remained unpaid — order qualifies amount as calculated up to the date of the hearing or beyond — plaintiff seeks further accounting in respect of net profits — whether plaintiff prevented from such relief by Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), s 191 COSTS — party/party — general rule that costs follow the event — application of the rule and discretion — five costs orders already made in the proceedings — defendants achieve some degree of success on certain issues — whether degree of success achieved by defendants justifies order that plaintiff pay proportion of defendants' costs — plaintiff ordered to pay 60 per cent of defendants' costs on ordinary basis Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 98 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), s 191 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 42.1 Cases Cited: Bonanno v Finamore [2021] NSWSC 1558 Bostik Australia Pty Ltd v Liddiard (No 2) [2009] NSWCA 304 Breakout Barrier Release Systems Pty Ltd v Breakout Barrier Release Systems Australasia Ltd (Costs) [2013] NSWSC 1955 Roache v News Group Newspapers Ltd [1992] TLR 551 Sayour v Elliott (No 2) [2018] NSWSC 146 Category: Costs Parties: Salvatore Antonio Bonanno (Plaintiff) Nicola Finamore (First Defendant) Weisen Zhou (Second Defendant) Representation: Counsel: G Foster (Plaintiff) D A Woods (Defendants)