Thomas Brown Estates Ltd v Hunters Partners Ltd [2012] EWHC 30 (QB), [2012] All ER (D) 122 (Jan)
On the basis of established authority, the discretion as to costs was a wide one. The aim was to make an order that reflected the overall justice of the case. The general rule remained that costs should follow the event, ie that the unsuccessful party would be ordered to pay the costs of the successful party. The question of who was the “successful party” for the purposes of the general rule had to be determined by reference to the litigation as a whole.
The court might, of course, depart from the general rule. But it remained appropriate to give “real weight” to the overall success of the winning party. It was important to identify at the outset who was the “successful party”. Only then was the court likely to approach costs from the right perspective. The question of who was the successful party was a matter for the exercise of common sense.
