Catchwords:
EQUITY – LEGAL PRACTITIONERS – CORPORATIONS – Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act) s 553C – Solicitor’s “fruits of the action” lien over costs order made by the Court of Appeal in favour of their client against the losing party (the debtor) which solicitors argue covers their costs for acting in Court of Appeal and subsequent High Court proceedings – Where as a condition to the grant of special leave to appeal the debtor undertook not to disturb the Court of Appeal costs order – Where debtor claims that lien should not be recognised because without it it would have an equitable set-off for a claim it says it has against the client for liquidated damages or s 553C of the Act would have worked to effect one – Where debtor argues that the lien should not be recognised because the solicitors had other security which they did not realise – Where debtor argues that the High Court costs are not secured by the lien because those costs were not to defend a fund and were not immediately incidental to the costs incurred in the Court of Appeal proceedings – Where costs debtor argues that the solicitors have not established the reasonableness of their fees – HELD – Lien effective to cover Court of Appeal costs but not High Court costs – HELD – No equitable set-off would have been available – s 553C of the Act did not operate – Solicitors did not impair their lien – Their fees were reasonable – Lien operative with respect to Court of Appeal charges but not High Court
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