White v Paul Weston as Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Byron Ward Thompson [2013] NSWDC 261

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: White v Paul Weston as Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Byron Ward Thompson [2013] NSWDC 261 Hearing dates: 18/4/2013 Decision date: 19 April 2013 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: P Taylor SC DCJ Decision: (1) I dismiss the appeal. (2) I confirm the decision of the Costs Review Panel of 12 November 2012. (3) I order the plaintiffs to pay the defendant's costs of these proceedings. (4) I direct each of the plaintiff, Mr White, and the defendant, Mr Weston, (by his solicitors), to notify Mr Libut within 7 days that he has 14 days from today to make any written submission (limited to no more than 2 pages), to be sent to my Associate, with a copy to be sent to each other party, as to whether he ought not be liable to the costs proceedings as he was not a party to the application to the Review Panel. (5) If such a submission is received, then any party has a further 7 days to file and serve any submission in response. That response is to be limited to no more than 2 pages. (6) After all submissions, if any, are received, consideration will be given as to whether the order for costs should be amended. (7) Mr White made an application orally and without any supporting material for leave to appeal under s 385 of the Legal Profession Act. I reject this application, without prejudice to any application made in the proper form. Catchwords: APPEAL - assessment of party/party costs - reassessment by Costs Review Panel - appeal from Review Panel - whether costs awarded were unreasonably high - fair and reasonable costs - comparison with other party's costs - comparison with costs in other proceedings Legislation Cited: Evidence Act 1995, s 97 Legal Profession Act 2004, s 382, s 384, s 385 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Julian John White (first plaintiff) Romeo Medina Libut (second plaintiff) Paul Weston as Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Byron Ward Thompson (defendant) Representation: Ms M Castle (defendant) Brown & Partners (defendant) File Number(s): 2012/384319 Publication restriction: No Decision under appeal Date of Decision: 2012-11-12 00:00:00 Before: Stephen John Lancken (Costs Assessor) Marilyn Filewood (Costs Assessor) File Number(s): 2011/369873