D. Ong

Aviva sought costs for its motion to be added as a statutory third party.

The plaintiff and one defendant claimed they never opposed the motion, but the case conference endorsement explicitly stated they did, leading Aviva to prepare for an opposed motion.

The court found it was reasonable for Aviva to rely on the endorsement and awarded Aviva $5,000 in costs on a partial indemnity scale, payable equally by the plaintiff and the responding defendant.

The applicant lawyer brought a motion for a charging order over the proceeds of an after-the-event insurance policy to secure outstanding fee and disbursement accounts.

The court dismissed the motion, finding it was an impermissible collateral attack and an abuse of process, as the applicant's entitlement to the proceeds had already been decided in a previous application.

Furthermore, the court held that even if the motion was not an abuse of process, the applicant did not meet the test for a charging order because the proceeds were not property recovered or preserved through the instrumentality of the solicitor in the proceeding.