Langbein v Mottershead Investments Pty Ltd

Langbein was the appellant and Mottershead Investments Pty Ltd was the respondent. The case was heard in the High Court of Australia. The appeal was from an earlier judgment in the Federal Court. The appellant sought an extension of the stay of the judgment from which the appeal was made, while the respondent sought security for the costs of the appeal. The appellant had already paid the judgment debt but had not yet received any benefit from the money, and the respondent offered to repay the amount if the appeal was successful. The respondent also argued that the appellant, being a resident outside of Australia and having no assets within Australia, should provide security for the costs of the appeal.

The court dismissed the appellant's application for an extension of the stay of the judgment, noting that the appellant had already received no benefit from the judgment debt payment. The court ordered the appellant to provide security for the respondent's costs of the appeal, as the appellant was a resident outside of Australia and had no assets within Australia. The court ordered the appellant to pay $30,000 as security for the costs of the appeal, to be paid into court within 21 days of the order. The appellant's appeal was stayed until the security for costs was provided.

The court ordered that the costs of the respondent's interlocutory application for security for costs be costs in the appeal. The matter was listed for case management on 24 October 2019 at 9:30am, which was also to be the return day for any application brought by the respondent if security was not established. The court's orders were to be entered in accordance with Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.