REANEY & PAGGETT

This matter concerned an application by the respondent for the solicitor for the applicant, Mr C, to be ordered to personally pay the respondent's costs on an indemnity basis. The applications in question were filed on 5 March 2020 and 1 May 2020. The decision was made by Judge Lapthorn.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the conduct of the applicant's solicitor warranted an order for him to personally pay the respondent's costs on an indemnity basis. This required the court to consider the circumstances surrounding the applications and the solicitor's conduct in relation to them.

Judge Lapthorn found that the applications filed by the applicant's solicitor were vexatious and an abuse of process. The court determined that the solicitor had acted improperly and without reasonable grounds, leading to unnecessary costs being incurred by the respondent. Consequently, the court ordered that Mr C, the solicitor for the applicant, personally pay the respondent's costs of the two specified applications on an indemnity basis within 60 days of the date of the orders.