Huxley Homes Pty Ltd (In liquidation) v Guenther

Huxley Homes Pty Ltd (In liquidation) brought an action against Heidi Guenther in the Federal Circuit Court. The liquidator of Huxley Homes sought to recover costs under a Calderbank offer. The case involved a dispute over the costs incurred by the liquidator in pursuing a claim against Guenther. The primary legal issue the court had to address was whether the Calderbank offer was valid and if the liquidator was entitled to recover costs under its terms.

The court considered the nature of Calderbank offers and their application in Australian litigation. It was established that a Calderbank offer is a written offer made by one party to another, which if rejected, entitles the maker of the offer to recover costs from the offeree if the outcome in the proceedings is more favourable to the offeree than the terms of the offer. The court examined the terms of the Calderbank offer made by Guenther and the outcome of the proceedings in determining whether the liquidator was entitled to recover costs.

The court found that the Calderbank offer was valid and that the liquidator was entitled to recover costs under its terms. The offer was clear, specific, and made before the proceedings concluded. The outcome in the proceedings was more favourable to Guenther than the terms of the Calderbank offer, entitling the liquidator to recover costs. The court ordered that Guenther and Mark Trowell must pay Huxley Homes Pty Ltd’s (In Liquidation) costs of and incidental to these proceedings, such costs if not agreed to be assessed pursuant to the provisions of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014.