The Court held that where a solicitor fails to issue separate costs disclosures for new matters (involving different parties, causes of action, or forums) and fails to provide timely updating estimates under s 276(1) of the Legal Profession Act 2006 (ACT), the costs agreement may be set aside under s 288 and costs assessed on a fair and reasonable basis under s 300. The Court further held that where a costs agreement is set aside for material non-disclosure, interest on unpaid costs runs only from the date of assessment (not from invoice dates), because no entitlement to recover costs arises until assessment is completed. A costs agreement that retrospectively sought to capture work tainted by prior non-compliances and that effectively required clients to waive assessment rights for existing invoices was void under s 287(1) and liable to be set aside under s 288.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 1 later case that cites this judgment.