Re Quality Blended Liquor Pty Ltd (No 2)

This case involves the Quality Blended Liquor Pty Ltd, who brought proceedings against various respondents. The disputes involve issues around the conduct of the respondents' solicitors, their handling of security instruments, and the allocation of costs between the parties. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of Queensland.

The court had to decide whether the third respondent's solicitors should be penalised for failing to register security instruments on time, and if so, whether the applicant should bear the costs of the extension application. The court also had to determine how costs should be apportioned between the parties, given that the applicant achieved partial success in the proceedings. Lastly, the court had to decide if the applicant should pay the costs of a hearing requested by the second respondent to address an unexpected issue raised by the applicant.

The court found that the third respondent's solicitors should not be penalised for their oversight, but the applicant's opposition to the extension application was legally sound. The court exercised its discretion under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules to apportion costs based on the parties' levels of success. The court ordered that the first and third respondents pay 60% of the applicant's costs, while the applicant was ordered to pay the second respondent's costs of and incidental to the hearing held on 24 July 2014.

The court made the following orders: (1) the first and third respondents to pay 60% of the applicant's assessed costs in proceedings 2133/14 and 3073/14 (including reserved costs); (2) the applicant to pay the second respondent's assessed costs of and incidental to the hearing on 24 July 2014; and (3) no order as to costs in proceeding 3213/2014.