Stillwell Trucks Pty Ltd v Williams [2018] NSWDC 38

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Stillwell Trucks Pty Ltd v Williams [2018] NSWDC 38 Hearing dates: 20 February 2018 Date of orders: 20 February 2018 Decision date: 20 February 2018 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Defendant called outside Court 13D three times at 10:10am – No appearance. (2) Judgment for the plaintiff for the sum of $162,879.71 inclusive of interest. (3) Pursuant to s 98 Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), the defendant is to pay the plaintiff's costs of $9,487.69 on a gross sum basis. (4) Direct the Registrar to provide a copy of this judgment to the Commissioner of Police. (5) Exhibits retained for 28 days. (6) Plaintiff is to notify the defendant of these orders. Catchwords: CONTRACT – breach of contract – plaintiff brings proceedings against former employee following the discovery of a system of fraudulent claims for items purchased by customers which were neither purchased nor delivered to them – COSTS – application for gross sum costs order – whether a "rule of thumb" deduction should be made having regard to the smallness of the sum sought – gross sum costs order made accordingly Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), ss 98 and 100 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 30.1 Cases Cited: Aesthete No 3 Pty Limited ACN 127 464 966 v Gilmore Finance Pty Limited ACN 104 792 627 [2018] NSWDC 1 Bobb v Wombat Securities Pty Ltd (No 2) [2013] NSWSC 863 Harrison v Schipp (2002) 54 NSWLR 738 Palladium Consulting Pty Ltd [2013] NSWSC 92 Prime Marble and Granite Pty Ltd ACN 077 393 938 v Mehajer [2017] NSWDC 273 Rafidi v Commonwealth Bank of Australia [2017] NSWCA 96 Satz v ACN 069 808 957 Pty Ltd [2010] NSWSC 365 Star Diamond v Diamond (No 4) [2013] NSWCA 811 Wilkie v Brown [2016] NSWCA 128 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Plaintiff: Stillwell Trucks Pty Ltd Defendant: Angus Williams Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff: Mr N J Maley (solicitor) Defendant: No appearance