In Karam Group Pty Ltd ATF The Karam (No. 1) Family Trust v HCA Queensland Pty Ltd (No 2) [2024] QSC 74, the Supreme Court of Queensland made a decision regarding the legal proceedings between Karam Group Pty Ltd (applicant) and HCA Queensland Pty Ltd (first respondent), alongside other respondents. The core dispute revolved around Karam's attempt to prevent HCA from pursuing a part of a payment claim, citing issue estoppel and abuse of process, and to restrain a registered adjudicator from issuing an adjudication decision due to apprehended bias. The Court found in favour of Karam regarding the issue of estoppel and abuse of process by HCA but ruled against Karam on the apprehended bias towards the adjudicator. Despite these mixed outcomes, the Court eventually ordered HCA to bear Karam’s legal costs of the proceedings, following a traditional principle where costs "follow the event," yet the final costs were to be assessed on a standard basis rather than the indemnity basis requested by Karam.
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