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A compensation law firm was awarded costs after it was successful in having a former client’s negligence claim tossed out for being misleading “to the point of being an abuse of power”.
Judge Susanne Cole of the NSW District Court awarded indemnity costs to Turner Freeman Lawyers and barrister Adam Casselden SC after they were forced to defend themselves against an incomplete and misleading claim filed by former client, Robert Byrne.
Byrne turned to the firm and Casselden in 2014 for a dispute with his owner’s corporation that settled in May 2018. He claimed he received negligent advice about this settlement because it did not prevent an alleged breach by the owner’s corporation of its obligations.
In the original decision, handed down in mid-February, Judge Cole found the negligence allegations in Byrne’s statement of claim were incompletely pleaded, making it a “clear case” for removal.
“The defendants have not been apprised of the case they are to meet. The failure is fundamental,” Judge Cole said.
“The advice that, it is pleaded, the defendants ought to have given is not specified. The circumstances in which loss was allegedly occasioned to the plaintiff on account of failure to give unspecified advice is not particularised, and material facts are not provided.”
In submissions made for costs on an indemnity basis, Turner Freeman Lawyers said the finding in the first decision “implies that the court has accepted that the claim set out in the statement of claim had no reasonable prospects of success and was doomed to fail”.
Casselden added Byrne maintained his claim while refusing to give particulars “in circumstances where he knew he could not provide particulars was unreasonable and merits an order for indemnity costs”.
“For all of the reasons advanced by the first and second defendants … the first and second defendants ought to be awarded costs on an indemnity basis,” Judge Cole said.
The costs decision is Byrne v Turner Freeman Lawyers and Casselden No 2 (costs) NSWDC 88 (28 March 2025).
The original decision is Byrne v Turner Freeman Lawyers and Casselden [2025] NSWDC (13 February 2025).
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Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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