Maylord Equity Management Pty Ltd as trustee of the Batterham Retirement Fund v Nauer (No. 3)

The case involved Maylord Equity Management Pty Ltd as trustee of the Batterham Retirement Fund against Nauer. The dispute was related to costs under the Civil Procedure Act, specifically section 98(4)(c), which deals with the making of a specified gross sum costs order. The court was required to determine whether the defendant's actual costs should be discounted by a range of 60% to 75% when quantifying the specified gross sum costs order.

The legal issue before the court was whether the specified gross sum costs order should be discounted based on the defendant's actual costs. The defendant argued that a discount of 60% to 75% should be applied, while the plaintiff contended that no discount should be applied. The court needed to weigh these arguments and decide on the appropriate discount, if any, to be applied.

The court found that the specified gross sum costs order should not be discounted by the range of 60% to 75%. It was determined that such a discount was inappropriate and not in line with the statutory provisions and judicial precedents. The court emphasised that the statutory framework for costs orders did not support the application of such a substantial discount. The court concluded that the appropriate approach was to quantify the specified gross sum costs order based on the actual costs incurred, without applying any discount.

The court ordered that the quantification of the specified gross sum costs order would proceed without applying any discount to the defendant's actual costs. This decision ensured that the costs order would be based on the actual expenses incurred, as required by the relevant statutory provisions.