Anderson v Pickles Auctions Pty Ltd
[2022] QSC 265 · Cooper J
The plaintiff had a workers' compensation common-law claim for a work-related personal injury that settled before trial for $775,000, with WorkCover agreeing to pay his legal costs under the workers' compensation regulation. The parties could not agree on the amount of costs, so the court appointed a costs assessor. The assessor decided that the barristers' fees the plaintiff's lawyers had paid could not be claimed under the regulation, and that the cost of using two barristers should not be allowed. The plaintiff asked the court to review those decisions. The court agreed with the assessor that the regulation does not allow a claimant to recover counsel's fees as part of these costs, and found that the case was not complex enough to justify two barristers. The plaintiff's application was dismissed and he was ordered to pay the other side's costs of the application. This was a costs dispute only, not a decision about the plaintiff's injury or damages.
Incident & injury
Work-related incident giving rise to a claim for damages for personal injury (details of injury not addressed in this costs review).
- Body regions
- Multiple regions / generalised
Quick facts
- Date of judgment
- 6 December 2022
- Claim type
- WCRA Common Law
- Proceeding
- Costs
- Plaintiff outcome
- N/A
- Plaintiff age at injury
- Occupation
- Not stated
- Settled prior to trial
-
$775,000
Settlement figure recited in the judgment; not a court assessment. Excluded from all recovery medians.
Outcome
The plaintiff's application under r 742 UCPR to review a costs assessment was dismissed. The court held that on the proper construction of Part 8, Division 2 of the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Regulation 2014, counsel's fees are not a recoverable outlay, and that the costs assessor did not err in excluding them or in disallowing the costs of two counsel. The plaintiff was ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the application.
Defendant
1 Pickles Auctions Pty Ltd
Employer
- Judgment against this defendant
- $775,000
Key issues
Anderson v Pickles Auctions Pty Ltd [2022] QSC 265
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Learn more about WorkCover common law claims in Queensland.