Brookfield Multiplex Limited v International Litigation Funding Partners Pte Ltd (No 4)

The case before the court involved Brookfield Multiplex Limited, the plaintiff, and International Litigation Funding Partners Pte Ltd, the defendant. The dispute centred around the plaintiff’s application for indemnity costs, which the defendant opposed. This matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The central legal issues the court needed to address were whether the plaintiff was entitled to indemnity costs and if the defendant’s opposition to the application was justified. The court had to consider the precedents and principles guiding the award of indemnity costs, particularly in relation to litigation funding arrangements and the factors that might warrant such an award.

The court examined the nature of the litigation funding arrangement between the parties and the circumstances surrounding the plaintiff's application. It found that the plaintiff had not met the threshold to justify an indemnity costs order. The court emphasised the importance of assessing each application on its merits, taking into account the specific facts and legal context. Given the defendant's successful opposition, the court ruled that the plaintiff was not entitled to indemnity costs and ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff's costs of and incidental to this application, to be taxed if not agreed upon.