Norris v Routley [2016] NSWSC 147

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Norris v Routley [2016] NSWSC 147 Hearing dates: 5 February 2016 Date of orders: 02 March 2016 Decision date: 02 March 2016 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Harrison J Decision: 1. Make no order for the payment of the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings. 2. Order the plaintiff to pay the defendant's costs thrown away or occasioned by reason of the abandonment of her loss of personal income claim. 3. Order the plaintiff to pay the defendant's costs on and from 25 June 2014 on an indemnity basis. Catchwords: COSTS – indemnity costs – offer of compromise – where plaintiff obtains an order no more favourable than defendant's offer of compromise – whether non-admission and non-disclosure terms invalidate offer of compromise – whether the value of a favourable finding on the question of liability can be brought to account in the assessment of whether the result in proceedings was more or less favourable than the terms of the offer COSTS – UCPR 42.34 – where plaintiff recovers less than amount sued for and less than $500,000 – whether commencement and continuation of the proceedings in the Supreme Court rather than the District Court was warranted Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 Cases Cited: Byrd & Byrd [2010] Fam CA 547 Calderbank v Calderbank [1975] 3 WLR 586 Evans Shire Council v Richardson [2006] NSWCA 61 Futhem Pty Ltd v Mills [2012] NSWDC 127 Jell & Jell [2009] Fam CA 960 Ji v Firth t/as Firths the Compensation Lawyers [2013] NSWSC 186 Miwa Pty Ltd v Siantan Properties Pte Ltd (No 2) [2011] NSWCA 344 Morgan v Johnson (1998) 44 NSWLR 578 Newcrest Mining Limited v Thornton [2012] HCA 60; (2012) 248 CLR 555 Perisher Blue Pty Ltd v Nair Smith (No 2) [2015] NSWCA 268 Regency Media Pty Ltd v AAV Australia Pty Ltd [2009] NSWCA 368 Sabah Yazgi v Permanent Custodians Limited (No 2) [2007] NSWCA 306 Taylor v The Owners – Strata Plan No 11564 [2014] HCA 9; (2014) 253 CLR 531 Whitney v Dream Developments Pty Ltd [2013] NSWCA 188 Category: Costs Parties: Dr Mary Helen Norris (Plaintiff) Dr Douglas Routley (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: D R Toomey SC and S Holmes (Plaintiff) Z Heger (Defendant)