Viselle v Grieve [2014] NSWDC 27

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Viselle v Grieve [2014] NSWDC 27 Hearing dates: 27 March 2014 Decision date: 27 March 2014 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Until further order of the court, the stay sought by the plaintiff in paragraph 4(f) of the summons is granted. (2) Costs reserved, with liberty to apply after conclusion of the proceedings the subject of the costs assessment. (3) Liberty to the parties to apply for the stay to be lifted after conclusion of the proceedings the subject of the costs assessment; these proceedings to remain in the Inactive List with a review date to be allocated by the Registrar. (4) Summons otherwise dismissed. (5) Cross-claim dismissed. (6) Defendant/Cross-Claimant's Notice of Motion dismissed. Catchwords: COSTS - costs assessment appeal pursuant to s 384 Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) - whether the plaintiff was afforded procedural fairness - whether the barrister was in fact retained - s 384 appeal dismissed - application for stay based on "no win no fee" costs agreement - proceedings the subject of the costs agreement not yet concluded - application for stay granted until further order - proceedings placed in Inactive List pending resolution of the proceedings the subject of the costs agreement Legislation Cited: Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW), ss 384, 385, 386 and 387 Cases Cited: Adamson v Miller [2005] NSWSC 971 Arnott v Glissan [2013] NSWCA 138 BP Refinery (Westernport) Pty Ltd v Hastings Shire [1977] UKPCHCA 1; (1994) 180 CLR 266 Castlemaine Tooheys Ltd v Carlton & United Breweries Ltd (1987) 10 NSWLR 468 CSR Ltd v Eddy (2008) 70 NSWLR 725 Foreman v Rattray [2006] NSWSC 260 Ireland v Trilby Misso Lawyers [2011] QSC 127 Lange v Back & Schwartz [2009] NSWDC 180 Legal Services Board v Forster [2011] VSC 292 Levy v Bergseng (2008) 72 NSWLR 178 Lyons v Wende [2007] NSWSC 101 Madden v New South Wales Insurance Ministerial Corporation [1999] NSWSC 196 McCausland v Surfing Hardware International Holdings Pty Ltd [2010] NSWDC 222 Pavey & Matthews Pty Ltd v Paul (1987) 162 CLR 22 Rahman v Sharpe (No 2) [2012] NSWDC 49 Re Power's Bills of Costs [1996] 2 Qd R 202 Toll (FGCT) Pty Ltd v Alphapharm Pty Ltd (2004) 219 CLR 165 Wentworth v Rogers (2006) 66 NSWLR 474 Texts Cited: Dal Pont, Law of Costs (3rd ed., LexisNexis 2013) Category: Interlocutory applications Parties: Plaintiff: Liliane Viselle First Defendant: Donald Edward Grieve Second Defendant: Robert George Webley Representation: Plaintiff: Ms L Viselle (in person) Defendant: Mr C W Crawley Plaintiff: In person Defendant: Aubrey F Crawley & Co File Number(s): 2013/258949 Publication restriction: None