Polias v Ryall (No 2) [2015] NSWSC 1

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Polias v Ryall (No 2) [2015] NSWSC 1 Hearing dates: 22 December 2014 Decision date: 02 January 2015 Before: Rothman J Decision: (1)Orders (16) and (17) issued on 22 December 2014 in this matter are vacated; (2)Subject to any earlier order issued from this Court rendering the plaintiff liable for the defendants' costs of any interlocutory aspect of these proceedings, the defendants shall pay the plaintiff's costs of and incidental to these proceedings, as agreed or assessed, on an indemnity basis. The liability for said costs shall be joint and several, but, as between each of the defendants, each other defendant shall be liable to reimburse: the first defendant for any amount paid by him over 36% of the costs as assessed or agreed; the second defendant for any amount paid by him over 39% of the costs as assessed or agreed; the third defendant for any amount paid by her over 15% of the costs as assessed or agreed; and the fourth defendant for any amount paid by him over 10% of the costs as assessed or agreed; (3)Pursuant to section 101(4) and (5) of the Civil Procedure Act 2005, interest is to be paid on the amount payable under order (2) above at the rate prescribed by the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 from the date or dates on which the costs concerned were paid by the plaintiff until payment by the defendants of the amounts so payable. For said purpose, the plaintiff is to be taken to have paid the costs concerned on the date or dates of the payment or payments actually made by him for or on account of the costs of these proceedings, but only to the extent of the proportion of each such payment that the total amount of costs allowed on assessment under the said order bears to the total amount of costs which the plaintiff has paid or is liable to pay as between the practitioner and client in connection with these proceedings. Catchwords: DEFAMATION - Interest on costs - Rationality of alternate approaches - Ordinary approach that interest on costs paid should be awarded - Indemnity costs - Effect of s 40 of Defamation Act Legislation Cited: Defamation Act 2005 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 Cases Cited: Grace v Grace (No 9) [2014] NSWSC 1239 Polias v Ryall [2014] NSWSC 1692 Category: Costs Parties: Nicholas Polias (Plaintiff) Tobin Ryall (First Defendant) Andy Hun Wei Lee (Second Defendant) Sandy Jan (Third Defendant) Rhys Gould (Fourth Defendant) Representation: Counsel: Kalantzis Lawyers (Plaintiff) ILC Law (First and Fourth Defendant) Banki Haddock Fiora (Second and Third Defendant) Solicitors: S. Chrysanthou/with B. Regener (Plaintiff) M. K. Rollinson (First and Fourth Defendant) B. Burke (Solicitor advocate) (Second and Third Defendant) File Number(s): 2013/161335 Publication restriction: None