Oliveri v P M Sulcs and Associates Pty Ltd (in liq)

The applicant, Oliveri, sought leave to appeal a decision of the primary judge concerning the charging of interest on legal costs by the respondent, P M Sulcs and Associates Pty Ltd (in liq). The dispute arose from the respondent's claim for interest on legal costs, which the applicant contended was not properly claimed in accordance with the relevant legislation. The matter was heard in the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the respondent had made a valid claim for interest on its legal costs. Specifically, the court had to determine if a document entitled "bill of costs" complied with section 190(2) of the *Legal Profession Act 1987* (NSW), which generally precludes the charging of interest unless a claim for it is made in the bill of costs. A further question arose as to whether a form of costs agreement, sent concurrently with the bill of costs, could be considered part of the bill and thus constitute a claim for interest, in light of regulation 45(3) of the *Legal Profession Regulation 2002* (NSW).

The Court of Appeal reasoned that the document clearly labelled "bill of costs" did not contain any claim for interest. It further held that the separate costs agreement, while sent with the bill, did not form part of the bill of costs for the purposes of section 190(2) of the *Legal Profession Act 1987*. The court concluded that the respondent had failed to make a claim for interest in the prescribed manner.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal granted the applicant leave under section 471B of the *Corporations Act 2001* (Cth) to proceed against the respondent. However, the application for leave to appeal itself was dismissed with costs, and the applicant was ordered to pay the respondent's costs of these applications.