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A Sydney firm was unsuccessful in its appeals against costs assessment determinations after the NSW District Court found no merit in its arguments and was ordered to pay the defendant’s costs.
The appeals concerned two cost assessment reviews in 2023, imposed by Ferrer Lawyers, asking Majid Ali Khanchedar to pay costs regarding a legal matter.
Held before His Honour Judge Robert John Weber SC DCJ in the District Court of NSW, the proceedings related to two separate appeals against Costs Assessment Review Panel determinations, one the 931 Review and the other under the 939 Review.
The appeals were brought under section 89 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW), which permits appeals against costs review decisions, with leave required where the costs in dispute are below the applicable threshold.
The 931 review
Under the 931 review, plaintiff Ferrer Lawyers, represented by L T Fermanis, argued that the review was unfair because they weren’t given access to important emails and documents or the chance to respond to them.
Judge Weber decided to consider both issues even though the appeals didn’t clearly include the documents.
On 24 May 2024, after Ferrer Lawyers asked the costs assessor to request the defendant’s phone records, the assessor emailed the defendant about providing them without copying Ferrer in. The judge found this was not unfair because Ferrer later had the chance to respond.
When evaluating the error, Judge Weber noted, “while it is clear that there has been a minor error of law in the assessor not making available the 24 May email to the plaintiff, it is, in my view, unarguable that the error was a material one”.
It was found that although Ferrer Lawyers initially estimated costs at up to $79,600 in April 2021, it failed to properly update Khanchedar as the fees increased, eventually estimating total costs at $403,197.64 in October 2022.
Ferrer Lawyers argued that the review panel had not adequately explained how it calculated the legal fees, and had incorrectly decided which costs were “fair and reasonable”.
Yet, the judge highlighted that the panel was entitled to adopt the original costs assessor’s reasons, which outlined why particular charges were decreased due to “excessive time and a lack of details”, and that the panel had adequately explained its decision.
Ferrer Lawyers argued that the review panel lacked proper application of Regulation 74 of the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015 (NSW), which sets rules for when an itemised legal bill exceeds a previous lump-sum bill.
However, it was found that an earlier invoice was not a lump-sum bill, meaning Regulation 74 did not apply, and the panel was entitled to assess a later replacement bill.
In the final two grounds of Ferrer’s argument, it was alleged that the panel supposedly appeared biased and did not treat parties fairly, and believed that the panel lacked adequate experience in family law to assess whether the legal fees were fair and reasonable, to which the judge described the accusation as having no merit.
The 939 review
The 939 review involved legal costs of less than $25,000, meaning that Ferrer Lawyers needed the court’s leave in order to be pursued.
The judge refused permission because Ferrer Lawyers gave no reasons to justify it and found that the majority of the grounds would fail even if permission were granted.
Ground 5 alleged bias by the review panel – similarly to the bias accusation in 931, but it was not pressed by Fermanis, and ground 6 was also abandoned.
As such, the proceedings held on 23 July and 27 August 2026 were dismissed by Judge Weber, and Ferrer Lawyers was ordered to pay costs in both proceedings.
