Nardini & Legal Aid NSW

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA

NARDINI & LEGAL AID NSW [2019] FamCA 340

FAMILY LAW – COSTS – Costs of the Independent Children's Lawyer – Where the Independent Children's Lawyer has sought that the mother pay half of their costs of the proceedings – Where the mother asserts that she will suffer financial hardship if she is required to pay half the costs of the Independent Children's Lawyer – Where the mother has not provided evidence to support that assertion – Court orders that the mother pay half the costs of the Independent Children's Lawyer upon the finalisation of property proceedings between herself and the father.

Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s. 117
Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth) r. 19.18(1)(a)

CDJ v VAJ (No 2) (1998) 197 CLR 172
De Roma & De Roma [2013] FamCA 566
Fitzgerald (as child representative for A (Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania)) v Fish and Another (2005) 33 Fam LR 123
Gahen & Gahen (No 2) [2013] FamCA 936
Stoian & Flemming (Costs) [2014] FamCA 944

APPLICANT: Ms Nardini

RESPONDENT: Legal Aid NSW

FILE NUMBER: SYC 6095 of 2016

DATE DELIVERED: 28 May 2019

PLACE DELIVERED: Sydney

PLACE HEARD: Sydney

JUDGMENT OF: McClelland DCJ

HEARING DATE: 20 May 2019

REPRESENTATION

COUNSEL FOR THE APPLICANT: Ms Shea

SOLICITOR FOR THE APPLICANT: Legal Aid NSW

SOLICITOR FOR THE RESPONDENT: Self-represented

Orders

1. That within 60 days of the making of final orders in property proceedings between the father and the mother, the mother shall pay Legal Aid NSW the sum of $14,903.70, being her share of the costs of the Independent Children’s Lawyer in the parenting proceedings between the parties.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry of the order in the Court’s records.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment by this Court under the pseudonym Nardini & Legal Aid NSW has been approved by the Chief Justice pursuant to s 121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

Note: This copy of the Court’s Reasons for Judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 17.02A(b) of the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 17.02 Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth).

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA AT SYDNEY

FILE NUMBER: SYC 6095 of 2016

Ms Nardini

Applicant

And

Legal Aid NSW 

Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

Introduction

1. This decision concerns an application brought by the Independent Children’s Lawyer (“ICL”) for the mother to pay half the costs of the ICL associated with the parenting proceedings between the parties, Ms Nardini (“the mother”) and Mr Nardini (“the father”).  The father has already paid the other half of the ICL’s costs.

2. In those proceedings, the parties sought competing orders concerning their children, B, born in 2008 and C, born in 2012 , collectively referred to herein as “the children”.  Those proceedings were heard over a period of 10 days, being 9 to 13 April 2018, 29 May to 1 June 2018…