Wright v KB Nut Holdings Pty Ltd

[2013] QCA 153

Queensland Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Costs
3. › Indemnity costs
4. › Offer to settle by plaintiff
5. › Judgment more favourable than offer
6. › Whether defendant showed another order appropriate
7. › Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld), r 360
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Costs
3. › Costs of appeal
4. › Whether indemnity costs appropriate on appeal
5. › Respondent had benefit of reasoned judgment below
6. › Whether unreasonable conduct beyond mere non-acceptance of offer
7. › Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld), ss 39, 40(8)
1. Practice and Procedure
2. › Costs
3. › Costs of adjournment
4. › Late production of expert evidence
5. › Whether successful appellant should bear costs of adjournment caused by its own conduct

Quick Take

Under UCPR r 360, where a plaintiff's offer to settle is not accepted and the judgment obtained exceeds the offer, the defendant bears a heavy onus to displace the presumption of indemnity costs; arguments based on late-emerging evidence increasing the claim's value are unlikely to suffice where the offer was modest relative to the judgment. On appeal, indemnity costs will not ordinarily be ordered where the respondent had the benefit of a reasoned judgment below, absent unusual circumstances or unreasonable conduct beyond mere non-acceptance of a pre-trial offer.