Charltons CJC Pty Ltd v Fitzgerald (No 4) [2014] NSWSC 523

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Charltons CJC Pty Ltd v Fitzgerald (No 4) [2014] NSWSC 523 Hearing dates: 02/5/2014 Decision date: 02 May 2014 Jurisdiction: Equity Division Before: Pembroke J Decision: See paragraph [22] Catchwords: COSTS - importance of 'usual order as to costs' - discouragement of costs applications that seek to qualify, vary or overly refine the general rule Cases Cited: Archer v Archer [2000] NSWCA 315 Oshlack v Richmond River Council [1998] HCA 11 Walter Construction Group Ltd v Walker Corp Ltd [2001] NSWSC 359 Category: Costs Parties: Charltons CJC Pty Ltd - plaintiff Alden Gregory Fitzgerald - first defendant Kamal Kishore - second defendant Kirat Krishan Prasad - third defendant Intuitive Accountants & Associates Pty Ltd - fourth defendant Representation: Counsel: Ian Neil SC with David Chin - for the plaintiff Gerard Boyce - for the first, second, third and fourth defendants Solicitors: Whittens & McKeough - for the plaintiff FCB Workplace Law - for the first, second, third and fourth defendants File Number(s): 2012/00278861

Judgment 1This is a costs application in which both the plaintiff and the defendants seek special orders as to costs. It calls for re-iteration of the practical and policy importance of the usual order as to costs. And it exemplifies the need to discourage unnecessary costs applications. As McHugh J said in Oshlack v Richmond River Council [1998] HCA 11 at [68]: Large scale disregard of the principle of the usual order as to costs would inevitably lead to an increase in litigation with an increased, and often unnecessary, burden on the scare resources of the publicly funded system of justice.