Dovey Aviation Consulting Limited v Attorney-General

Dovey Aviation Consulting Limited (Plaintiff) sought to recover costs incurred in a civil action against the Attorney-General of New Zealand (First Defendant), James Patrick Rankin (Second Defendant), Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshows Limited (Third Defendant), Edward Richard Miles Taylor (Fourth Defendant), Ronald John David Lamont (Fifth Defendant), and Allen Victor Hogan (Sixth Defendant). The nature of the dispute involved complex aviation law and the operation of airshows. The High Court of New Zealand, Wellington Registry, was tasked with determining the appropriate category and bands for the costs, as well as whether any uplift in costs was justified.

The central legal issues the Court had to decide were whether the proceeding should be categorized under category 2 or 3, whether certain steps should be allocated to band C instead of band B, whether some steps claimed were appropriately charged, and if there should be any uplift on the costs awarded. The Court also had to consider submissions from both the plaintiff and the defendants regarding the complexity of the case and the necessity of specialized skills in aviation law.

The Court concluded that the proceeding was complex, necessitating a detailed understanding of aviation regulations and expert evidence. However, the complexity was known at the outset, and the parties had agreed on category 2B early in the proceeding. The plaintiff did not demonstrate special reasons to change this category. Regarding the bands, the Court found that certain steps, such as the preparation of the statement of claim and notices to answer interrogatories, warranted band C due to the extensive work involved. However, other steps like the replies and answers to interrogatories were appropriately allocated to band B. The Court also determined that some steps claimed were not necessary or had been mischaracterized, and no uplift on the costs was warranted.

The final orders were that the plaintiff is entitled to a costs order as claimed on a category 2B basis, subject to the adjustments discussed in the judgment, and is also entitled to disbursements as agreed. The costs order will be joint and several except where the NZDF and WoW defendants agree on the portion to be ordered severally against each of them.