WB Jones Staircase and Handrail Pty Ltd v Richardson (No 2)

WB Jones Staircase and Handrail Pty Ltd, Mirvac, and JMKG (the appellants) appealed findings made by the District Court concerning liability, apportionment, and damages in proceedings brought by Peter Richardson. While two of the appellants were successful in varying the apportionment of liability, their appeals were otherwise dismissed. The primary dispute before the Court of Appeal concerned the appropriate orders for costs, both in the District Court and on appeal, in light of the revised apportionment.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine how the costs of the District Court proceedings and the costs of the appeal should be allocated between the parties, specifically considering the apportionment of liability as determined on appeal. The court had to decide whether the original cost orders should be varied and how the successful and unsuccessful aspects of the appeals should be reflected in the final cost orders.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that the costs of both the District Court proceedings and the appeals should reflect the apportionment findings made on appeal. The court ordered that each of the defendants (appellants) was to bear the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings as to 25 percent by WB Jones, 25 percent by Mirvac, and 50 percent by JMKG, with each defendant otherwise bearing their own costs. Similarly, the appellants were ordered to bear the first respondent's (Peter Richardson) costs of the appeals in the same proportions.