Conrad and Conrad & Anor

The case of *Conrad and Conrad & Anor* concerned a dispute in the Family Court of Australia regarding the provision of expert evidence and the allocation of costs. The applicant wife had sought to adduce an adversarial accounting expert report into evidence, but the court had previously determined that further joint instructions should be provided to a single expert accountant instead. A letter of joint instruction to this single expert had now been settled by the parties.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether to approve the settled letter of joint instruction for the single expert accountant and how to allocate the costs associated with this further report and the wife's unsuccessful application to admit the adversarial report. The court was also required to determine the costs of the unsuccessful application and the adjournment of the trial.

Forrest J reasoned that the settled letter of joint instruction should be sent to the single expert accountant. Regarding costs, the court ordered that the applicant wife pay the costs of the single expert providing the response to these further joint instructions in the first instance, with the ultimate determination of responsibility for these costs to be reserved for the trial judge. The wife was also ordered to pay the husband's and the husband's sister's costs of and incidental to her unsuccessful application to adduce the adversarial report and the costs thrown away by the adjournment of the trial, on a party and party basis, to be paid after the conclusion of the proceedings.