LU v AO-ZHONG International Mineral Resources Pty Ltd

The applicant, LU, sought an order to transfer proceedings from the Magistrates Court of Western Australia to the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The respondent, AO-ZHONG International Mineral Resources Pty Ltd, did not appear at the hearing of this application. The applicant's legal representatives also failed to appear at the hearing.

The primary legal issues before the Court were whether the application for transfer should be dismissed due to the non-appearance of the applicant's legal representatives, and if so, whether the applicant's former legal representatives should be ordered to pay the costs of the application, and whether those costs should be on an indemnity basis.

The Court noted that lawyers have a duty to the Court to appear at scheduled hearings. In this instance, the applicant's lawyers had filed a Notice of Intention to Withdraw as Lawyers, but this did not absolve them of their obligation to appear at the hearing of the transfer application. As neither the applicant nor their legal representatives appeared, the Court dismissed the application for transfer. The Court further ordered that the applicant's former legal representatives pay the costs of the respondent on a party and party basis, and that the applicant's former legal representatives pay the applicant's costs of the application on an indemnity basis.