The Court dismissed Graincorp's application for $600,000 security for costs in a group proceeding concerning nuisance and environmental duty claims. Keogh J held that the defendant's significant delay in bringing the application, the prejudice to the plaintiff and group members from a late-stage security order, and the likelihood that the proceeding would be stultified weighed heavily against granting the order. Critically, the Court endorsed the principle from Madgwick v Kelly that a solicitor acting on a conditional fee agreement with an uplift is not to be characterised as a litigation funder whose sole interest is commercial profit, and that requiring security in such circumstances would undermine access to justice for impecunious plaintiffs in class actions.
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