Hart v ANZ National Bank Limited

In the High Court of New Zealand, Auckland Registry, the case of Hart v ANZ National Bank Limited involved an application by the plaintiffs, Barry John Hart, Woodhill Stud Limited, Woodhill Holdings Limited, and Malory Corporation Limited, for an interim injunction to prevent the defendant, ANZ National Bank Limited, from proceeding with a mortgagee sale of various properties. The application was dismissed when the plaintiffs' counsel informed the court that the plaintiffs had decided not to proceed with their application, and thus, no further arguments were presented. The Bank's solicitors had already prepared and filed their submissions for the hearing, which was scheduled for 21 June 2012.

The legal issue before the court was whether the Bank was entitled to recover its costs incurred in preparing for and participating in the hearing, despite the plaintiffs withdrawing their application. The Bank sought costs on a solicitor/client basis under the terms of the facility agreements, guarantees, and mortgages. The court had to determine if the costs claimed were reasonable and whether there was any opposition from the plaintiffs to the Bank's claim. Given that no memorandum in response was filed by the plaintiffs, the court proceeded on the assumption that there was no opposition to the Bank's claim for costs.

The court found that the Bank was entitled to costs on a solicitor/client basis. It was satisfied that the costs claimed were reasonable and had been incurred in resisting the plaintiffs' application for an interim injunction. Therefore, judgment was entered in favour of the defendant, awarding the Bank costs in the sum of $34,689.52. The court's decision was based on the lack of opposition from the plaintiffs and the reasonableness of the costs claimed.