Rushcutters Bay Smash Repairs Pty Ltd v H McKenna Netmakers Pty Ltd

Rushcutters Bay Smash Repairs Pty Ltd sought to recover costs from H McKenna Netmakers Pty Ltd, after a legal dispute where both companies were defendants. The primary dispute revolved around whether the court could order costs against multiple unsuccessful defendants in a joint and several liability, and whether the defendants had sufficiently segregated their defences to justify individual cost orders. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The court was required to determine whether the general rule in relation to costs, which allows for joint and several liability where multiple defendants are unsuccessful, applied in this case. Additionally, the court considered whether the defendants' defences were sufficiently distinct to warrant separate cost orders, and whether the defendants could be considered as "partners in crime" for the purposes of the rule. The court also needed to assess whether more than a simple judgment against the co-defendants was necessary to establish individual liability for costs.

The court found that the general rule allowing for joint and several liability in costs orders applied, and that the defendants were not "partners in crime" for the purposes of the rule. The court held that the defendants had not sufficiently segregated their defences to justify separate cost orders. Consequently, the order for costs was joint and several. The court held that the plaintiff was entitled to recover costs from both defendants jointly and severally, without the need for a finding that the defendants were "partners in crime" or that more than a simple judgment against them was required.

The court ordered that H McKenna Netmakers Pty Ltd pay Rushcutters Bay Smash Repairs Pty Ltd's costs of and incidental to the proceeding, jointly and severally with any other defendants.