De Costi Seafoods (Franchises) Pty Limited and Anor v Wachtenheim and Anor (No 4) [2014] NSWDC 70

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: De Costi Seafoods (Franchises) Pty Limited and Anor v Wachtenheim and Anor (No 4) [2014] NSWDC 70 Hearing dates: 16 and 17 December 2013 Decision date: 13 June 2014 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: P Taylor SC DCJ Decision: (1) Dismiss the application for the orders sought in paragraphs 1 to 3 of Ms Thomson's notice of motion. (2) Note that I do not find under s 349(1) of the Legal Profession Act 2004 that the facts established by the evidence at trial do not form a basis for a reasonable belief that the claim by Serge Wachtenheim and Deist Safety Equipment Australia Pty Ltd against Frank Theodore, De Costi Seafoods (Franchises) Pty Limited, De Costi Seafoods (Holdings) Pty Limited, or George Costi had reasonable prospects of success. (3) Note that I do find under s 349(1) of the Legal Profession Act 2004 that the facts established by the evidence at trial do not form a basis for a reasonable belief that the claim by Serge Wachtenheim and Deist Safety Equipment Australia Pty Ltd against Androulla Costi had reasonable prospects of success. (4) Stand over for directions the further conduct of the notices of motion dated 5 August 2013 and 14 October 2013 to a date to be determined convenient to the parties. (5) Direct the parties to forward to my associate within seven days a list of convenient dates for further directions. (6) Reserve all questions of costs of the applications. Catchwords: ORDERS - absence of party - setting aside - inherent power - injustice - orders after bankruptcy - fresh step - creditor - provable debt - costs - consent - no determination on merits - costs orders against practitioners - reasonable prospects - fairly arguable - court hearing proceedings - facts established by the evidence - credibility issues - claim for damages - multiple causes of action - multiple parties Legislation Cited: Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth), s 5, s 27, s 58, s 60, s 82 Civil Procedure Act 2005, s 56, s 57, s 99, s 101 Legal Profession Act 1987, s 198J, s 198M, s 198N Legal Profession Act 2004, s 198, s 345, s 348, s 349 Supreme Court Rules 1970, Pt 40 r 9 Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth), s 84 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, r 36.15, r 36.16 Cases Cited: ANZ Banking Group Ltd v Computer Plus [1992] 1 VR 607 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) v Kritharas (2000) 105 FCR 444 Australian Competition & Consumer Commission v The Bio Enviro Plan Pty Ltd [2004] FCA 415 Bailey v Marinoff (1971) 125 CLR 529 Bennett v Elysium Noosa Pty Ltd (in liq) (2012) 202 FCR 72 Bovaird v Frost [2013] FCA 974 Cameron v Cole (1944) 68 CLR 571 CGU Insurance Ltd v Watson [2007] NSWCA 301 Charitopoulos v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation [2009] SADC 120 Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Hadfield (2001) 53 NSWLR 614 Coventry v Charter Pacific Corp Ltd (2005) 227 CLR 234; [2005] HCA 67 De Costi Seafoods (Franchises) Pty Limited and Anor v Wachtenheim and Anor (No 3) [2013] NSWDC 54 De Costi Seafoods (Franchises) Pty Limited v Wachtenheim (District Court (NSW), Johnstone DCJ, 12 December 2011, unrep) Degiorgio v Dunn (No 2) (2005) 62 NSWLR 284 DJL v Central Authority (2000) 201 CLR 226 Fountain Selected Meats (Sales) Pty Ltd v International Produce Merchants Ltd (1988) 81 ALR 397 Fraser Property Developments Pty Ltd v Sommerfeld (No 2) (2005) 2 Qd R 404; [2005] QCA 242 Fraser v Commissioner of Taxation (1996) 69 FLR 99 Gertig v Davies [2003] SASC 86 Hoskins v Van Den-Braak (1998) 43 NSWLR 290 Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Re Minister for; Ex parte Lai Qin [1997] HCA 6; (1997) 186 CLR 622 In the matter of Wan Jia (Australia) International Development Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC 1007 Lemoto v Able Technical Pty Ltd (2005) 63 NSWLR 300 Nicholson v Nicholson [1974] 2 NSWLR 59 NMFM Property Pty Ltd v Citibank Ltd (No 10) (2000) 107 FCR 270 Northey v Bega Valley Shire Council [2012] NSWCA 28 Pelechowski v Registrar, Court of Appeal (1999) 198 CLR 435 Permanent Custodians Ltd v Agb Developments Pty Ltd [2010] NSWSC 540 Port of Melbourne Authority v Anshun Pty Ltd (1981) 147 CLR 589 RAB Finance Pty Limited v Parlby [2012] NSWDC 247 Staples and Another v Milner and Others (1998) 83 FCR 203 Steindl Nominees Pty Ltd v Laghaifar [2003] 2 Qd R 683 Taylor v Taylor (1979) 143 CLR Watson v Foxman (1995) 49 NSWLR 315 Zantiotis v Andrew (No 2) (1988) 80 ALR 299 Texts Cited: Ritchie's Uniform Civil Procedure NSW Category: Costs Parties: De Costi Seafoods (Franchises) Pty Limited (ACN 103 324 812) (first plaintiff/first cross-defendant/applicant on notice of motion filed 5 August 2013) De Costi Seafoods (Holdings) Pty Limited (ACN 064 186 410) (second plaintiff/fifth cross-defendant/applicant on notice of motion filed 5 August 2013) Serge Wachtenheim (first defendant/first cross-claimant/first respondent to Ms Thomson's notice of motion) Deist Safety Equipment Australia Pty Ltd (ACN 081 763 877) (second defendant/second cross-claimant/second respondent to Ms Thomson's notice of motion) Frank Theodore (second cross-defendant) George Costi (fourth cross-defendant/applicant on notice of motion filed 5 August 2013) Androulla Costi (seventh cross-defendant/applicant on notice of motion filed 5 August 2013) Leonardo Muriniti (respondent to De Costi's notice of motion/third respondent to Ms Thomson's notice of motion) Robert Newell (respondent to De Costi's notice of motion/fourth respondent to Ms Thomson's notice of motion) Louise Thomson, Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Barry David Shnider, the Sixth Cross Defendant (applicant on notice of motion filed 14 October 2013) Representation: Mr S J Stanton with Mr M B Holmes (plaintiffs/first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh cross-defendants/applicants on notice of motion filed 5 August 2013) Mr D A Lloyd (Leonardo Muriniti) Mr P Greenwood SC with Mr H Pintos-Lopez (Robert Newell) Mr P Doyle Gray with Ms T Gordan (Louise Thomson, Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Barry David Shnider, the Sixth Cross Defendant) McLachlan Thorpe (plaintiffs/first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh cross-defendants/applicants on notice of motion filed 5 August 2013) Yeldham Price O'Brien Lusk (Leonardo Muriniti) Gadens Lawyers (Robert Newell) Searle & Associates (Louise Thomson, Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Barry David Shnider, the Sixth Cross Defendant) File Number(s): 2006/296319 Publication restriction: None