Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd v Nicholls (No 13)

The applicant, Michael Wilson & Partners Ltd, sought leave to appeal against a decision concerning costs. The sixth respondent sought an order for their costs of the application for leave to appeal. The matter came before Curtin AJ in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the usual rule that costs follow the event should be displaced in circumstances where the sixth respondent had entered a conditional appearance. The Court was required to determine whether this conditional appearance altered the general principle of awarding costs to the successful party.

Curtin AJ applied the well-established principle that costs generally follow the event, meaning the unsuccessful party pays the successful party's costs. The Court found that the entry of a conditional appearance by the sixth respondent did not, in itself, operate to displace this usual rule. Consequently, the sixth respondent, having been successful in the application for leave to appeal, was entitled to their costs.

The Court ordered that the applicant pay the sixth respondent’s costs of the application for leave to appeal.