Zafra Legal Pty Ltd v Harris (Liquidator) (No 3)

Zafra Legal Pty Ltd v Harris (Liquidator) (No 3) involved concurrent reviews of separate lump sum assessments of costs by the registrar of two primary actions and two appeals. The Liquidators and the Whitby Parties sought to have the costs of the proceedings assessed in accordance with their respective claims, while Mr Caratti sought a reduction in the amounts claimed. The primary legal issue before the court was the appropriate amount of costs to be awarded, considering the assessments made by the registrar and the submissions of the parties. The court was required to determine whether the amounts claimed by the Liquidators and the Whitby Parties were reasonable and whether any further discount should be applied to the claimed amounts.

The court considered the principles and guidelines for assessing costs, including the Court's guidelines, the Federal Court Rules Scale of Costs, and the National Guide to Counsel Fees. It noted that while the court was not bound to strictly apply the Scale, it could provide assistance and be influential. The court also highlighted the importance of giving credit to the careful and responsible consideration of costs undertaken by the parties and their solicitors, which included reductions to Scale rates and the application of discounts. The court found that the Liquidators and the Whitby Parties had gone to considerable effort in their costs affidavits to comply with the guidelines, and that the amounts claimed had already been discounted by the parties and the basis of such discounts was fully disclosed in the affidavit evidence.

The court ultimately set aside the orders of the registrar and fixed the costs payable by Mr Caratti to the Liquidators and the Whitby Parties at the amounts claimed by the Liquidators, being $84,330 and $28,000 respectively. The court also ordered Mr Caratti to pay the costs of the Liquidators and the Whitby Parties of the application to the registrar for assessment, being $5,000 and $4,000 respectively. The court found that the amounts claimed by the Liquidators and the Whitby Parties were reasonable and that no further discount should be applied to the claimed amounts.