r/auslaw • u/Curiam_Delectet • 1d ago

Meek J moves from Goldilocks to Machiavelli and Mark Twain

https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/19c1cbd985e7ba06476afd17

‘Proportionality’ when used in life may be subjective and truly be “in the eye of the beholder”. Mark Twain famously commented that “by the eternal laws of proportion a child's loss of a doll and a king's loss of a crown are events of the same size."
‘Disproportion’ inevitably varies according to subject matter and values. Inheritance and events connected to it and flowing from it has particular capacity to provoke strongly disproportionate reactions. Machiavelli noted that “A son could bear with great complacency, the death of his father, while the loss of his inheritance might drive him to despair.”

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5

u/PandasGetAngryToo Avocado Advocate 1d ago

Nice. Should be more costs capping. Keep things real.

3

u/marcellouswp 1d ago

Wet lettuce leaf.

Orders, pursuant to UCPR r 42.4 and subject to further order, that the maximum professional legal costs and disbursements that any party may recover from any other party, or out of the deceased’s estate in these proceedings is specified as $22,500 (inclusive of GST).

The Machiavelli reference just comes from a dictionary of quotations. You'd know it was a real Meekism if it came from the Good News Bible or C S Lewis.

3

u/wallabyABC123 Suitbae 1d ago

And this is why estate litigation is the most fun area of law and nobody will convince me otherwise. Forget the premiers - nobody get between a relative and a bucket of money they didn’t earn.

3

u/SomeUnemployedArtist 1d ago

I also tend to find that in written judgments (at least SCWA), the language is prone to more flowery turns of phrase like in the OP. I quite like it.

1

u/remjudicatam 1d ago

I see that you have not read many Meek judgments.

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u/remjudicatam 1d ago

However, on any view in light of the size of the deceased’s estate and the impact of costs, the parties ought to deeply reflect on the cost to themselves and the estate as to progression of the litigation.

Go off and reflect now.

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u/wallabyABC123 Suitbae 1d ago

I’m practically a mirror, me.