Coshott v Woollahra Municipal Council [1999] NSWSC 1145

New South Wales Supreme Court CITATION : Coshott v Woollahra Municipal Council [1999] NSWSC 1145 CURRENT JURISDICTION : Common Law FILE NUMBER(S) : 11513/1999 HEARING DATE(S) : 2 November 1999 JUDGMENT DATE : 26 November 1999

Robert Gilbert Coshott (Plaintiff) PARTIES : v Woollahra Municipal Council (Defendant) JUDGMENT OF : Master Malpass

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : Costs Assessment LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 90585/99 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL OFFICER : John Bartos

COUNSEL : N/A (Plaintiff) N/A (Defendant) SOLICITORS : In Person (Plaintiff) Deacons Graham & James (Defendant) CATCHWORDS : Appeal against decision of a Costs Assessor; sufficiency of reasons; no matters of law. Legal Profession Act 1987, s 208L. ACTS CITED : Legal Profession Amendment (Costs Assessment) Act 1998. Legal Profession Amendment (Costs Assessment) Regulation 1999. Moray v Lane (Allen J, unreported, 26 February CASES CITED : 1993). Re Morris Fletcher & Cross' Bill of Costs (1997) 2 Qd. R 228. DECISION : See paragraph 17.

THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION

MASTER MALPASS

FRIDAY 26 NOVEMBER 1999

11513/1999 ROBERT GILBERT COSHOTT v WOOLLAHRA MUNICIPAL COUNCIL JUDGMENT 1 The plaintiff brought proceedings in the Court of Appeal against the defendant. The appeal was set down for hearing. The proceedings were settled shortly prior to the hearing date. A consent order was made which required the plaintiff to pay the defendant's costs of the appeal. 2 The defendant prepared a Bill of Costs. It claimed costs and disbursements in a total amount of $19,618.78. It is a detailed document containing some 155 items (of which 142 were items of profit costs). The profit costs were in the order of $8,000. The disbursements were in the order of $11,000 (mainly counsels' fees). The bill provided information as to each profit cost item (it gave the item number, the date, a narrative of the work done (including a figure for the time engaged) and the amount charged). 3 The defendant applied to this Court for assessment of the costs. The application was referred to a Costs Assessor (Mr Bartos). He proceeded with assessment of the costs. 4 The plaintiff provided him with a Notice of Objections (there was an objection to $12,194.32 of the bill). The defendant provided the Costs Assessor with a Notice of Concessions and Specific Replies. Correspondence passed between the Costs Assessor and the parties. 5 On 31 May 1999, the Costs Assessor issued a Certificate of Determination. He assessed the sum of $18,868.72 as a fair and reasonable amount of costs to be paid by the plaintiff. The certificate was accompanied by other documentation. One document was in the following terms:-