Deane Projects Building Pty Ltd v Kinda Kapers Holdings Pty Ltd (No.2)

In this case, Deane Projects Building Pty Ltd brought an action against Kinda Kapers Holdings Pty Ltd for damages and other relief. The defendant subsequently filed a cross-claim for indemnity costs, following the service of a rules offer and a Calderbank offer. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The primary focus of the dispute was whether the defendant's offer for indemnity costs was valid under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules or alternatively under the principles established by the case of Calderbank v Calderbank.

The court examined the validity of the defendant's Calderbank offer, which was made after the defendant had served a rules offer and subsequently withdrew it. The court considered whether the Calderbank offer was made in good faith and whether it had a reasonable prospect of success. The court also assessed whether the defendant's offer complied with the procedural requirements set out in the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules.

The court concluded that the Calderbank offer was valid and made in good faith. The court found that the defendant had a reasonable prospect of success on the cross-claim, and the offer was made after the rules offer had been withdrawn. Consequently, the court held that the defendant was entitled to indemnity costs from the plaintiff. The court ordered that the defendant's cross-claim for indemnity costs be allowed, and the plaintiff was to pay the defendant's costs of the cross-claim on an indemnity basis.