Larsen v Tastec Pty Ltd (No 2)

The parties in this matter were the appellants, Larsen, and the respondents, Tastec Pty Ltd. The dispute concerned an application to vary previous costs orders made by the Court of Appeal of New South Wales. Specifically, the respondents sought to vary orders that had awarded costs to the appellants despite the appellants not succeeding on all grounds of their appeal, and also sought to set aside an order that had set aside a costs order made in the respondents' favour at first instance, again in light of the appellants' mixed success on appeal. The Court of Appeal of New South Wales was required to determine whether to vary these costs orders.

The central legal issues before the Court were whether the appellants' mixed success on appeal warranted a variation of the costs order made in their favour, and whether the prior order setting aside a costs order in favour of the respondents should be disturbed on the same grounds. The Court considered the application of rule 36.16 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), which governs the setting aside and variation of judgments and orders.

The Court dismissed the respondents' application to vary the costs orders. The reasoning applied by the Court, though not detailed in the provided text, would have involved an assessment of the extent of the appellants' success and failure on appeal, and whether the initial costs order reflected a proper exercise of discretion in light of that mixed success. The Court ultimately upheld the existing costs orders.

The respondents' application to vary the orders of the Court dated 9 March 2023 was dismissed with costs.