Wood v State of Queensland (No 2)

The case of Wood v State of Queensland (No 2) involved the plaintiff, Wood, and the defendant, the State of Queensland. Wood filed an interlocutory application seeking to amend his claim and statement of claim, which included an attempt to join a fourth defendant to the proceedings. The application was unsuccessful, and the court had to decide on the allocation of costs. The primary legal issue was whether the costs should follow the event, particularly given that Wood had some success in his application against the defendant.

The court considered the general rule that costs follow the event, meaning that the unsuccessful party generally bears the costs of the successful party. The court also had to determine whether the costs of and incidental to the application filed on 26 June 2023 should be considered costs in the proceeding. The court reasoned that, despite Wood's partial success, the overarching principle of costs following the event applied, and thus, the plaintiff was liable for the costs of the unsuccessful application. The court further held that the costs of and incidental to the application were indeed costs in the proceeding.

The final orders were that the plaintiff, Wood, would pay the costs of and incidental to the application filed by Annaliese Dowdle on 26 June 2023, to be assessed on the standard basis. Additionally, the court declared that the plaintiff's and defendant's costs of and incidental to the application filed on 26 June 2023 were costs in the proceeding. This decision underscored the importance of the principle that costs generally follow the event in civil proceedings.