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High Court, sitting as the Commercial Court, hears plaintiffs' application for its successful costs, of a motion in default of appearance against defendant non-lawyer who resides outside of the jurisdiction, to be made on a solicitor and client basis owing to an alleged deliberate strategy on the defendant's part to delay and prolong the proceedings; and the court finds that such costs are to be payable on the usual party and party basis, in circumstances where: the defendant's conduct was not the sole reason for certain delays in the proceedings; her explanation for not entering an appearance in time was reasonable in the circumstances; and her conduct, taken as a whole, is not such as would warrant the court in departing from the normal rule that such costs are made on a party and party basis against the unsuccessful motion party.
Commercial Court - costs of legal proceedings - motion for judgment in default of appearance - unconditional appearance entered - defendant's agreement to pay costs of motion - party and party basis - whether court should make order for costs against defendant on solicitor and client basis on grounds that defendant deliberately held off entering an appearance which caused delay in proceedings and considerable expense to plaintiffs - additional translation costs - commencement and service of proceedings on defendant - greek translation - pleadings exchanged - chronology of proceedings to date - solicitor and client costs sought - whether failure to enter appearance was deliberate - whether a deliberate strategy - service of proceedings outside of jurisdiction - Order 99 rule 10(3) RSC - refusal to accept service of untranslated pleadings - whether order would be unjust in circumstances - displeasure or disapproval of court - whether conduct falls short of meriting an order for costs against defendant - court's discretion on level of costs - whether plaintiffs caused prejudice - rules of superior courts relating to legal costs - caselaw to be applied - relevant legal principles - normally costs awarded on party and party basis - court retains a discretion - good reason to depart from normal position - wish to make court's disapproval or displeasure - nature of conduct required - abuse of process, failure to exercise requisite caution, serious breach of discovery obligations - court's approach to assessing conduct of party impugned - english cases - particular context of commercial court proceedings not solely determinative - defendant not a lawyer - defendant not main or primary intended target of proceedings - subsequent actions of defendant in entering an unconditional appearance and agreeing to case management timetables inconsistent with a deliberate strategy to delay - necessity of translating legal pleadings - defendant's explanation for delay not totally unreasonable - costs ordered on a party and party basis save that defendant to pay costs of service and translation of pleadings up to specified date with no stay on execution.
Note: This is intended to be a fair and accurate report of a decision made public by a court of law. Any errors should be notified to the editor and will be dealt with accordingly.
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