The High Court has awarded costs to the plaintiffs in three proceedings against companies trading as RAC Contractors and/or RAC Eire Partnership, after previously finding that the plaintiffs were entitled to damages for breach of contract.
Mr Justice David Keane delivered the costs ruling on 15 April 2016. The costs question followed his judgment of 18 March 2016, and a hearing on consequential orders on 8 April. The plaintiffs sought their costs under the usual rule that costs follow the event. The defendants argued that special circumstances justified withholding some costs because the plaintiffs had not succeeded on every issue.
The defendants pointed to the 16-day trial, the unsuccessful claim that the accommodation provided was not of a reasonable standard, statutory employment-law claims that were not expressly abandoned, and claims for increased damages under several headings that were not awarded. They submitted that the additional issues increased the parties’ costs.
The judge said the accommodation issue had not occupied a significant part of the witness evidence, the defendants had called no evidence on it, and argument had been limited. He also noted that the additional statutory relief and increased damages claims had not been pressed, although the defendants had addressed them in submissions, and little time had been spent arguing them.
He concluded that, although the case was protracted, it was not especially complex and was predominantly about the breach-of-contract claim, on which the plaintiffs were “almost, though not quite, completely successful”. He found no cause to depart from the usual costs rule and ordered costs in favour of the plaintiffs.
The ruling concerns costs only. The underlying judgment had found entitlement to damages for breach of contract; this costs ruling does not state the amount of damages.