Stinson & Stinson

In the Family Court of Australia, Ms Stinson (the wife) and Mr Hunt (the third party) each made applications for costs against the other. The underlying dispute concerned property proceedings between the wife and her husband, where Mr Hunt, a business associate of the husband, sought to intervene. Mr Hunt's intervention was motivated by a desire for the wife and her legal advisors to execute a formal confidentiality undertaking before she received documents as part of the husband's disclosure obligations.

The court was required to determine whether there were any circumstances justifying a departure from the general rule that each party bears their own costs, as stipulated by section 117 of the *Family Law Act 1975* (Cth). Specifically, the court had to consider the applications made by both the third party and the wife, and whether the conduct or outcome of the proceedings warranted an order for costs in favour of either party.

Justice Cronin reasoned that while Mr Hunt's concerns about the potential for competitive damage from the disclosure of sensitive business information were reasonable, his approach of insisting on a comprehensive confidentiality agreement was not accepted by the court. The court acknowledged the wife's existing duty of confidentiality and her solicitor's written confirmation of this understanding. Although the court ultimately ordered the wife and her solicitors to execute a formal acknowledgement of their confidentiality obligations, it did not find that the wife was "wholly unsuccessful" in the context of the costs applications. The court found that neither party was wholly successful in their respective positions regarding the confidentiality undertaking, and that the dispute necessitated court intervention.

Consequently, both the third party's and the wife's applications for costs were dismissed. The court concluded that there were no exceptional circumstances to justify departing from the principle that each party should bear their own costs, despite the unusual nature of the application and the significant legal expenses incurred by both parties.