Following a prior decision on competing motions, the court determined the appropriate costs award between the plaintiff and the statutory third party.
The plaintiff sought partial indemnity costs as the successful party on the statutory third party’s motion, while the statutory third party sought a set-off based on costs incurred responding to the plaintiff’s motion for directions, which was later withdrawn.
The court held that both motions arose from the same litigation context and that some allowance should be made for the additional work caused by the withdrawn motion, but not to the extent claimed by the statutory third party.
The court emphasized that the task was to fix costs rather than assess them through a strict formula.
After considering the circumstances, the court fixed the plaintiff’s costs at a reduced amount following set-off.
