District Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Wan v Ji (No 2) [2022] NSWDC 288 Hearing dates: Submissions concerning interest closed 20 July 2022. Decision on the papers Date of orders: 25 July 2022 Decision date: 25 July 2022 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Judge Levy SC Decision: See paragraph [5] for orders Catchwords: INTEREST – assessment of interest on damages award Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 100 Cases Cited: Wan v Ji [2022] NSWDC 269 Category: Consequential orders Parties: Chi Jian Wan (Plaintiff) Hong Lan Ji (aka Honglan Ki, Margrete Ji, Marger, Margery Ji) (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr M Langenheim (Plaintiff) Mr K Tang / Mr M Morgan (Pro Bono representation) (Defendant) Solicitors: Di Lizio & Associates (Plaintiff) LLL The Law Firm (Pro Bono representation) (Defendant) File Number(s): 2020/184306 Publication restriction: None Judgment Application for interest on assessed damages 1. On 18 July 2022 the plaintiff obtained a verdict in his favour in the amount of $229,109 plus interest to be calculated. At that time the parties were invited to correct any apparent arithmetic errors in the judgment sum. No errors have been identified. When the reasons for judgment were delivered the parties were required to bring in short minutes which calculated interest to reflect the reasons for judgment: Wan v Ji [2022] NSWDC 269, at [69]. 2. The parties have agreed that the question of interest to be added to the judgment should be decided on the papers. 3. On 20 July 2022 the plaintiff presented a short draft minute which calculated interest in the amount of $52,062.25 in accordance with the Court's online interest calculator for pre-judgment interest: s 100 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW). A copy of that calculation had earlier been provided to the legal representatives of the defendant on 18 July 2022. 4. On 20 July 2022 the defendant's solicitor informed the plaintiff's solicitor that he is unable to obtain instructions from the defendant on the plaintiff's claim for interest. In my view, the defendant has had a reasonable opportunity to be heard on the question of interest and it appears she has chosen not to make submissions in that regard. In those circumstances, the plaintiff's interest calculations should be accepted. Orders 1. I make the following orders: 1. Pursuant to s 100 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), interest on the judgment sum of $229,103 is assessed in the amount of $52,062.25; 2. Final judgment for the plaintiff in the sum of $281,165.25 including pre-judgment interest; 3. The defendant is to pay the plaintiff's additional costs on the ordinary basis with regard to the submissions concerning interest calculations. ********** DISCLAIMER - Every effort has been made to comply with suppression orders or statutory provisions prohibiting publication that may apply to this judgment or decision. The onus remains on any person using material in the judgment or decision to ensure that the intended use of that material does not breach any such order or provision. Further enquiries may be directed to the Registry of the Court or Tribunal in which it was generated. Decision last updated: 25 July 2022