Equiti Capital Ltd v Hewson

The case before the court involved Equiti Capital Ltd, the plaintiff, and Hewson, the defendant, in a dispute over costs related to preliminary discovery. The plaintiff sought an order for costs following an application for preliminary discovery. The defendants had initially offered to provide some of the categories of documents requested after the plaintiff served additional evidence, which was accepted by the plaintiff. The court was tasked with determining whether the defendants had adopted an adversarial approach that warranted an order for costs against them.

The legal issue before the court was whether the defendants' conduct in offering to provide some of the requested documents after the plaintiff served additional evidence amounted to an adversarial approach that justified an order for costs. The plaintiff argued that the defendants' offer came after the plaintiff had already incurred costs and that this constituted an adversarial approach. The defendants contended that their offer, made in response to additional evidence, did not amount to an adversarial approach.

The court found that the defendants' offer, made in response to additional evidence served by the plaintiff, did not constitute an adversarial approach. The court reasoned that the offer was made in a timely manner and was a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute. The court held that the defendants' conduct did not warrant an order for costs against them. The court concluded that the plaintiff was not entitled to the costs incurred in relation to the application for preliminary discovery.

The court made an order that the plaintiff take nothing by way of costs in relation to the application for preliminary discovery. The court found that the defendants' conduct did not warrant an order for costs against them. The plaintiff's application for costs was dismissed.