The Queensland Court of Appeal held that the trial judge erred in ordering indemnity costs against the plaintiff both for the amendment to the statement of claim and for the four days of trial thrown away by the adjournment. The Court found that the circumstances — an amendment raising a conflict between co-defendants sharing the same legal representation and insurer, necessitating the adjournment — did not amount to the kind of special or unusual circumstances required to justify departure from standard costs under UCPR rules 703 and 704. The costs of the four trial days were reserved to the judge hearing the new trial rather than being awarded to the defendants at that stage.
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