Bobb v Wombat Securities Pty Ltd (No 2)

This matter concerned an appeal to the District Court of New South Wales against a costs assessment. The applicant, Bobb, sought to appeal a decision of a review panel concerning costs awarded to the respondent, Wombat Securities Pty Ltd. The core of the dispute revolved around the applicant's objection to the costs, which was based on an alleged late amendment of the claim by the respondent.

The legal issues before the District Court were whether the review panel's decision involved an error "as to a matter of law" within the limited scope of appeal provided by section 384 of the *Legal Profession Act 2004* (NSW). Specifically, the applicant argued that the panel erred by failing to provide adequate reasons for its decision and by failing to take into account a mandatory consideration. The appeal court was required to determine the scope of the District Court's appellate jurisdiction under section 384 and whether the alleged failures constituted decisions "as to a matter of law".

The Court of Appeal held that the District Court had correctly dismissed the appeal. It reasoned that the applicant's dissatisfaction with the panel's decision did not amount to an appealable error "as to a matter of law" under section 384. The court distinguished between a "decision" made during the assessment process and the "determination" of the application, noting that section 384 referred to the former. The court also considered that the adequacy of reasons had previously been examined in the Supreme Court's supervisory jurisdiction, and that the District Court was not deprived of jurisdiction to consider this issue. The failure to consider the objection was not, as a matter of law, a failure to consider a mandatory consideration.

The appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed.