In a recent judicial review application heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Bryony Adams on her own and on behalf of all the partners in the firm known as Herbert Smith Freehills v PlayUp Ltd [2026] NSWSC 89, Woods & Day Solicitors successfully acted on behalf of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer who were granted relief in the nature of certiorari and prohibition.
The Court quashed the decision of the Manager of Costs Assessment to extend time for and appoint a costs assessor in a costs assessment application brought by a public (online betting) company, PlayUp Limited, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Fan Technologies Pty Limited, as a third-party payer.
It was held by the Court that the Manager of Costs Assessment lacked jurisdiction to extend time for lodgement of the costs assessment application as well as to subsequently appoint a costs assessor, by reason of the operation of section 170 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law which expressly disapplies Part 4.3 of the Uniform Law, including section 198, in relation to ‘commercial or government’ clients (as defined in section 170(2) of the Uniform Law).
Justice Payne stated in his reasons for judgment (at paragraph 46) that “This dispute between a commercial client and a law firm is beyond the jurisdiction of the costs assessment regime as defined in the LPUL and associated regulations.”
Justice Payne’s judgment is the first authority in NSW to set out the jurisdictional limits on the powers of the Manager of Costs Assessment under the Legal Profession Uniform Law.