The Court held that fees of a foreign law firm (Connon Wood LLP, a US firm) claimed as a disbursement in a bill of costs were not recoverable from the opposing party on taxation. On the indemnity principle, the applicant was not personally liable for the foreign firm's fees under the tripartite retainer, which allocated fee liability solely to FIP (the international polo federation), and FIP could not be regarded as the 'real party' under Dyktynski because the applicant was sued and counterclaimed personally and was not merely a 'nominal party' lending his name to FIP's claim. On recoverability, the Court found Connon Wood acted as principal (not agent of the local solicitors Batten Sacks), provided legal services within the LPUL definition, and was an unqualified entity under s 10 of the LPUL whose fees were therefore not recoverable as professional legal costs — except to the limited extent they fell within statutory exceptions for the practice of foreign law (s 60(1)) or mediation involving foreign law (s 69(2)(c)), with the precise quantum of any such recoverable fees left to taxation.
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