The Owners - Strata Plan 21702 v Krimbogiannis (No 2)

The Owners - Strata Plan 21702 (the applicant) sought costs against Krimbogiannis (the fifth respondent) in relation to a motion filed by the fifth respondent. The dispute arose in judicial review proceedings where the fifth respondent had submitted to the orders made by the court, save for the issue of costs. Following the court's initial costs order, the fifth respondent filed a motion but did not pursue it. The applicant then applied for the fifth respondent to bear the costs of this abandoned motion. The matter was heard by Basten, Macfarlan, and Meagher JJA of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the fifth respondent should be ordered to pay the applicant's costs of the motion that had been filed but not pursued. A secondary, but significant, issue was the conduct of legal representatives in relation to their duties under section 56 of the *Civil Procedure Act 2005* (NSW) when making applications to the court.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the fifth respondent's motion and, importantly, dismissed the applicant's application for the costs of that motion. The court issued a warning to legal representatives regarding their obligations under section 56 of the *Civil Procedure Act 2005* (NSW) when bringing applications before the court, implying that the abandoned motion may have fallen short of these standards.