Galati v Deans (No 2)

In *Galati v Deans (No 2)*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an application for costs following a trial and appeal. The dispute concerned the allocation of costs where a party had been successful on some issues but unsuccessful on others, and the court was required to determine how the "event" should be identified for the purpose of awarding costs.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the general rule that costs follow the event should be applied, and if so, how the "event" should be defined in circumstances where the plaintiff had obtained some relief but had been unsuccessful on significant aspects of their claim. The court also had to consider whether to depart from the usual order and deprive a party of a proportion of their costs due to their mixed success.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that the "event" in this context was not a single, discrete outcome but rather the overall result of the litigation, taking into account the success and failure of each party on the various issues. Applying this principle, the court determined that a departure from the usual costs order was warranted. The court ordered that the respondents pay 50% of the appellant's costs of the appeal, and 30% of the plaintiff's costs of the statement of claim in the Equity Division, acknowledging that interlocutory costs orders and specific costs orders relating to a cross-claim remained unaffected.