Mangano v Bullen

[2024] NSWDC 294

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

Mangano v Bullen [2024] NSWDC 294

Hearing dates:

11 July 2024

Date of orders:

11 July 2024

Decision date:

11 July 2024

Jurisdiction:

Civil

Before:

Newlinds SC DCJ

Decision:

(1)   Dismiss the summons commencing an appeal filed 5 April 2024.

(2)   Dismiss the notice of motion filed by Ms Mangano on 29 April 2024.

(3)   In relation to both the appeal and the notice of motion, I order that the Plaintiff pay the Defendant’s costs, which I assess as a gross sum at $7,000 inclusive of GST.

(4)   I will reserve liberty to the Plaintiff to apply to me on short notice.

Catchwords:

CIVIL – Appeal from decisions of the Legal Costs Review Panel dismissing appeals from decisions of Costs Assessors – Indemnity principle – Proper construction of s 178 of Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW) – Legal consequence of non-compliance with s 178 in relation to the operation and approach of the indemnity principle – Leave to appeal – Need for finality in litigation

Legislation Cited:

Legal Professional Uniform Law (NSW) s 178; s 178(1)(c)

Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 50.3

Cases Cited:

Bingham v Bevan [2023] NSWCA 86

Capello v Home Building Pty Ltd [2023] NSWCA 109

Enterprise Finance Solutions Pty Ltd v Ciszek [2014] NSWDC 314

Frontier Law Group Pty Ltd v Robert Glenn Barkman [2016] NSWSC 1542

Mangano v Bullen [2019] NSWSC 1704

Mangano v Bullen [2020] NSWCA 283

Wentworth v Rogers [2006] NSWCA 145

Category:

Principal judgment

Parties:

Silvana Mangano (Plaintiff)
Rosemary Bullen (Defendant)

Representation:

Counsel:
T Hall; Solicitor (Plaintiff)
B Balasubramanian; Solicitor (Defendant)

Solicitors:
Hall Partners (Plaintiff)
Marsdens Law Group (Defendant)

File Number(s):

2024/126516

Publication restriction:

Nil

JUDGMENT: Ex Tempore

1. The matter before me is a continuation of a long running dispute between the Plaintiff and the Defendant. The Defendant had a long relationship with the Plaintiff's late father, John Mangano. A number of protracted disputes have arisen following the death of the late John Mangano.

2. There have been various proceedings in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the Court of Appeal brought by the Plaintiff against the Defendant in which the Defendant was ordered costs in each of those proceedings. There were proceedings at first instance before Slattery J: Mangano v Bullen [2019] NSWSC 1704, proceedings in the Court of Appeal from the decision of Slattery J: Mangano v Bullen [2020] NSWCA 283 and then proceedings in the Corporations List, being 2018/00308162, which were ultimately dismissed by Parker J.

3. In each of those cases, there was an order for costs, that is that the Plaintiff (“Ms Mangano”) pay the Defendant’s (“Ms Bullen”) costs of each of the proceedings. That then resulted in three costs assessments in relation to the three separate proceedings, each of which was resolved in favour of Ms Bullen and cost certificates issued. Those cost certificates have since been filed in the Local Court of New South Wales and have been transformed into three separate judgments.

4. Between…