Hall v City of Burnside (No 2)

In *Hall v City of Burnside (No 2)*, the Supreme Court of South Australia considered an application for costs following a successful appeal by the plaintiff, Mr Hall, against the City of Burnside. The appeal concerned the proper assessment of costs awarded in earlier proceedings where Mr Hall had partially succeeded.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the general rule that costs follow the event should be departed from, and if so, on what basis. Specifically, the Court had to determine whether the partial success of Mr Hall in the original proceedings warranted a different costs order than that which would typically follow a successful appeal.

The Court reasoned that the general rule that costs follow the event is a strong one, and any departure requires good reason. In this instance, the appeal had been entirely successful, meaning Mr Hall had achieved a complete victory on the matters brought before the appellate court. Therefore, the Court found no reason to depart from the general rule. The Court applied the principle that where an appeal is successful, the successful party is generally entitled to their costs of the appeal, unless there are compelling circumstances to the contrary.

The Court ordered that the City of Burnside pay Mr Hall's costs of the appeal.