Salmon v Albarran (No 2)

[2025] NSWCA 115

Court of Appeal

Supreme Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

Salmon v Albarran (No 2) [2025] NSWCA 115

Hearing dates:

On the papers

Decision date:

28 May 2025

Before:

Ward ACJ; Leeming JA; Ball JA

Decision:

1. Order that the costs of the First, Second, and Fourth to Eighth Respondents of the Appeal are assessed in the amount of $135,000.

2. Order that the amount of $35,000 held in Court as security for the costs of the First, Second, and Fourth to Eighth Respondents of the Appeal be released forthwith to the trust account of their solicitors and applied in partial discharge of the costs the subject of order 1.

3. In order to avoid doubt, order that the stay made by order 7 on 9 May 2024 is lifted.

Catchwords:

COSTS – gross sum assessment – where unsuccessful appellant likely unable to meet costs – where costs of appeal increased by appellant’s conduct – appropriate to make gross sum assessment – consideration of amount of gross sum order

Legislation Cited:

Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 60

Cases Cited:

Gabrielle v Abood (No 4) [2023] NSWCA 100

Hamod v New South Wales [2011] NSWCA 375

Hartnett v Bell (No 2) (2023) 113 NSWLR 381;

Salmon v Albarran (No 2) [2024] NSWCA 99

Salmon v Albarran [2024] NSWCA 3

Salmon v Albarran [2025] NSWCA 42

Category:

Costs

Parties:

Owen Salmon (First Appellant/First Respondent)
TCBS Group Holdings Pty Ltd (Second Appellant/Second Respondent)
Richard Albarran (First Respondent/First Applicant)
Geoffrey McDonald (Second Respondent/Second Applicant)
Steven John Brown (Third Respondent)
Robert Elliott, Drew Townsend, David Kenney, Luigino Malacco and Paul Leroy (Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Respondents; Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Applicants)

Representation:

Counsel:
M Elliott SC and N Simone (Applicants on motion)
O Salmon (solicitor), (First and Second Respondents on motion)

Solicitors:
Hall & Wilcox (Applicants on motion)

File Number(s):

2023/356626

Publication restriction:

Nil

 Decision under appeal 

Court or tribunal:

Supreme Court of New South Wales

Jurisdiction:

Equity

Citation:

[2023] NSWSC 1238

Date of Decision:

19 October 2023

Before:

Nixon J

File Number(s):

2016/373218

JUDGMENT

1. THE COURT: This Court dismissed an appeal brought by Mr Salmon and his company TCBS Group Holdings Pty Ltd on 21 March 2025: Salmon v Albarran [2025] NSWCA 42 (the company played no separate role in the litigation and in what follows, references to Mr Salmon are references to both him and his company). Order 3 of the orders made on that day was an order: “Appellants to pay the respondents’ costs in this Court”. The respondents were separately represented, with one firm of solicitors retaining senior and junior counsel to appear for the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth respondents, and a separate firm retaining separate counsel to appear for the third respondent. By notice of motion filed on 4 April 2025, the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth respondents applied for a gross sum costs assessment of the order for costs insofar as it is in…