McDermott v Robinson Helicopter Company (No 2)

In the case of McDermott v Robinson Helicopter Company (No 2), the plaintiffs sought to challenge the adequacy of a helicopter maintenance manual, claiming it was deficient in allowing for the detection of loose bolts on a critical component known as the flexplate. The defendant, Robinson Helicopter Company, successfully defended the action by arguing that the manual was adequate. The dispute before the court was primarily about the costs incurred by the parties and whether the defendant's costs should be reduced. The plaintiffs argued that the defendant's costs should be decreased because the issue of missing palnuts, which was raised late in the proceedings, consumed a significant portion of the trial time and resources.

The court was tasked with determining whether the "event" for the purposes of costs under rule 681 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) should be assessed distributively, by reference to issues and questions raised in the proceeding. The court considered the significant time and cost expended on the palnut issue, which was not raised in the defence and had not been put to the plaintiffs' witnesses before the plaintiffs closed their case. The court also noted that the trial had been adjourned to allow the plaintiffs time to investigate the missing palnut issue, with directions for further expert reports and amendments to the defence.

The court found that although the defendant was ultimately successful in the action, the proceedings were not entirely successful for the defendant due to the late introduction of the palnut issue. The court reasoned that the time and costs associated with this issue, which consumed four to five days of the trial, warranted a decrease in the defendant's costs. As a result, the court ordered that the plaintiffs pay 80 per cent of the defendant's costs of the action, subject to any other orders already made in favour of any party. Additionally, the plaintiffs were ordered to pay the defendant's costs of specific hearings on 19 March 2014 and 25 March 2014, to be assessed on the standard basis.