Can a party ask for costs thrown away if a conference has to be adjourned because of the other side?

Yes. Where a conference or hearing has to be adjourned because of the other party's conduct — for example, they failed to file required materials on time, requested a last-minute adjournment without good reason, or otherwise caused a scheduled appearance to be wasted — the party who was ready to proceed can ask the court for "costs thrown away," meaning compensation for the specific costs incurred preparing for and attending the appearance that couldn't go ahead as planned.

Whether this kind of costs order is made depends on why the adjournment happened and whether it was genuinely caused by one side's conduct rather than a legitimate, unavoidable reason such as illness or an emergency. Courts are generally more willing to order costs thrown away where there's a pattern of late filings or last-minute adjournment requests, since repeated disruption imposes real, avoidable costs on the other party and the court system. Anyone facing an adjournment caused by the other side should raise the request for costs thrown away at the time, rather than assuming it will be addressed automatically later in the case.