Section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) does not limit the Supreme Court's supervisory jurisdiction under s 23 of the Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW) to make costs orders directly against legal practitioners in favour of opposing parties. The terms 'serious neglect', 'serious incompetence', 'serious misconduct', 'improperly' and 'without reasonable cause' in s 99(1) are not discrete concepts or terms of art and are to be construed holistically in the context of the overriding purpose provisions of ss 56-60. A solicitor who advances arguments that a competent and responsible legal practitioner should have advised were untenable, without evidence of having given such advice, may be found to have caused costs to be incurred by serious incompetence.
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