Parramatta City Council v Stewart

Parramatta City Council (the applicant) sought leave to appeal a decision of the primary judge concerning costs. The dispute arose from an application for an adjournment made by the applicant during proceedings before the primary judge. The respondent, Mr Stewart, had made an offer of compromise, which the applicant had not accepted.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the primary judge erred in ordering the applicant to pay the respondent's costs on an indemnity basis as a condition of granting the adjournment, and whether the respondent's offer of compromise was genuine, given that the only compromise offered was to forego the costs of the appeal, which were already limited by section 338 of the *Legal Profession Act 2004*.

The Court of Appeal found that the applicant had accepted the order for indemnity costs as a condition of the adjournment without complaint at the time. Furthermore, the Court considered that the respondent's offer of compromise, which limited the costs to those of the appeal, was not rendered not genuine simply because the costs of the appeal were already constrained by statute. Consequently, the Court refused the application for leave to appeal.

The Court ordered that the application for leave to appeal be refused and that the applicant pay the respondent's costs.