Romulus Remus Group Pty Limited v The Official Trustee in Bankruptcy

The Court held that where a company was incorporated and appointed trustee after a vexatious proceedings order was made against an individual, and that individual exercised a power of attorney for the company's sole director, swore affidavits in the proceedings, and the proceedings replicated claims previously brought by the individual, the company was 'acting in concert' with the individual within s 13(1)(b) of the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2008 (NSW), triggering automatic stay and deemed dismissal under ss 13(2) and 13(3) without the need for the third party to be named in the vexatious proceedings order. The Court also held that UCPR r 12.4 is engaged as soon as a liability to pay costs arises upon discontinuance, not only once costs are quantified by agreement or assessment, distinguishing between the incurrence of liability and the enforceability of a costs order. In the alternative, the Court would have permanently stayed or summarily dismissed the proceedings as an abuse of process, finding that the 2025 statement of claim was a cosmetic repackaging of claims determined adversely in multiple prior proceedings and that the purported 'new evidence' had already been raised in earlier pleadings and did not alter the factual position as previously found.