National Australia Bank v McBride (No 2)

In the case of National Australia Bank v McBride (No 2), the plaintiff, National Australia Bank, sought an order for costs following a default judgment granted in their favour. The nature of the dispute was a claim for unpaid sums under a credit agreement. The matter was heard in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The defendants, McBride, did not make any submissions regarding the costs of the action, leaving it to the court to determine the appropriate costs order.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the costs of the entire proceedings should follow the event in favour of the plaintiff, given the default judgment and the absence of any submissions from the defendants on the matter of costs. The court needed to consider the general rule that costs generally follow the event, and whether this principle applied in the circumstances of this case, particularly since the defendants had not contested the matter and had failed to make any submissions on costs.

The court considered the principle that costs generally follow the event, which means that the unsuccessful party in litigation is usually ordered to pay the costs incurred by the successful party. Given that the defendants had failed to contest the claim and had not made any submissions regarding costs, the court found it appropriate to order that the costs of the entire proceedings should follow the event in favour of the plaintiff. The court determined that the defendants should pay the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings, including any reserved costs, as no submissions had been made by the defendants on this matter.

The final orders of the court were that the defendants pay to the plaintiff its costs of the proceedings, including reserved costs if any. This order reflects the court's application of the general principle that costs follow the event, in the absence of any submissions from the defendants to the contrary.