By Michelle Castle and Andrew Bailey -
Snapshot
- The Chorley exception was considered in a number of cases this year. Three interesting developments await future consideration: whether it ought to apply to costs incurred by an incorporated legal practice, whether it applies to barristers who are not self-represented and whether it will remain at all.
- The nature of an appeal from a costs review panel under the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 is likely to receive further judicial consideration.
- The question of whether a party can enforce a costs agreement which contains oral terms arose in two cases this year.
- Following on from the High Court decision in Burns v Corbett, there is a real issue falling for future determination as to the ability of a costs assessor to resolve disputes between interstate parties.
Looking back over 2018, there have been a number of important cases which have illuminated issues in relation to legal costs. Some of them have been the subject of separate consideration in LSJ articles throughout the year. In this article, the authors have selected some interesting themes about which further developments may be expected in 2019.