Re Lynch & Co's Bills of Costs

The case involves a plaintiff, an applicant, who has paid his former solicitors, the respondent, over $37,000 in costs for an action that has yet to be ready for trial. The applicant seeks an order that certain bills of costs rendered by the respondent be referred for taxation in accordance with the District Court scale. The bills in question were rendered between August 1996 and July 1998, and total over $37,000. The respondent objects to the application on the grounds that the applicant has paid the bills and more than twelve months have elapsed since some of the bills were rendered. The court had to decide whether it had the inherent jurisdiction to order a taxation of the bills after payment and whether the circumstances were such as to justify the taxation of the bills after payment. The court found that the application to refer the bills paid before September 22, 1997, was brought out of time and the court may not refer them to taxation. The enactment of the Civil Justice Reform Act 1998 abolished the applicant's right to have the bill taxed after July 1, 1998. However, the court found that the applicant had a right to apply to have the bills dated September 18, 1997, October 15, 1997, and December 16, 1997, taxed. The court found that the bills were excessive and the circumstances were such as to justify the taxation of the bills after payment. The court ordered that the respondent's bills of costs dated September 18, 1997, October 15, 1997, and December 16, 1997, be referred to a taxing officer for taxation in accordance with the applicable District Court scale.