French v NPM Group Pty Ltd

The plaintiffs, French, brought an action against NPM Group Pty Ltd, seeking damages for breach of contract and misrepresentation. The case was heard in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, with the central issue being the appropriateness of the allocation of costs in light of the plaintiffs' partial success. The plaintiffs had won on certain issues, but not all, leading to a contention about whether the court should depart from the general rule that costs follow the event.

The legal issue before the court was whether the general rule of costs in Australian civil litigation, which dictates that costs should follow the event, should be departed from in this instance. The court examined whether there were any exceptional circumstances that warranted a departure from this general rule, particularly given the plaintiffs' partial success.

The court held that there were no exceptional circumstances present that justified a departure from the general rule. The plaintiffs' partial success did not provide a sufficient basis for the court to deviate from the standard approach of awarding costs. The court found that the general rule of costs in litigation should be upheld unless there were clear and compelling reasons to do otherwise, and in this case, none were present. The plaintiffs' failure to succeed on all issues did not, in the court's view, warrant a departure from the usual cost-bearing rule.

The court ordered that the plaintiffs were to pay the defendant's costs of the proceedings, assessed on the standard basis. This decision emphasised the importance of adhering to the general rule of costs unless there are compelling reasons to depart from it, thereby reinforcing the principle that costs should generally follow the event in litigation.