General Electric Canada Real Estate Financing Holding Company v. LibertyAssisted Living Inc.
The Court of Appeal held that the appellant was entitled to a solicitor's lien and that the motion judge erred by imposing terms that effectively removed the lien without any identified basis; the motion judge's order was set aside and a declaration of lien was entered with costs awarded.
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- 2013 ONCA 119
- Parties
- Applicant: General Electric Canada Real Estate Financing Holding Company; Applicant: General Electric Capital Canada Holdings Company; Respondent: Liberty Assisted Living Inc.; Respondent: 729285 Ontario Limited; Respondent: Amir Kassam; Respondent: Rahim Bhaloo; Respondent: Meyers Norris Penny Limited in its capacity as Receiver and Trustee in Bankruptcy of the Estates of 2008777 Ontario Inc., 2004631 Ontario Inc., 912087 Ontario Limited, 729982 Ontario Limited and 2007383 Ontario Inc.; Interested Party/appellant: Brauti Thorning Zibarras LLP in its capacity as former lawyers to certain of the Respondents
- Court
- Court of Appeal for Ontario
- Jurisdiction
- Canada
- Judgment Date
- 22 February 2013
- Procedural Posture
- Appeal / Court of Appeal Decision
- Outcome
- Appeal allowed; order of the motion judge set aside; declaration that appellant is entitled to a solicitor's lien; costs awarded.
- Legal Topics
- Solicitor's Lien, Costs, Appeal, Receivership, Motions
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
General Electric Canada Real Estate Financing Holding Company
Applicant
General Electric Capital Canada Holdings Company
Applicant
Liberty Assisted Living Inc.
Respondent
729285 Ontario Limited
Respondent
Amir Kassam
Respondent
Rahim Bhaloo
Respondent
Meyers Norris Penny Limited in its capacity as Receiver and Trustee in Bankruptcy of the Estates of 2008777 Ontario Inc., 2004631 Ontario Inc., 912087 Ontario Limited, 729982 Ontario Limited and 2007383 Ontario Inc.
Respondent
Brauti Thorning Zibarras LLP in its capacity as former lawyers to certain of the Respondents
Interested Party/appellant
Procedural Posture
Appeal / Court of Appeal Decision
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the appellant is entitled to a solicitor's lien over client files for unpaid legal fees
- 2 Whether the motion judge properly imposed terms that effectively removed the lien
- 3 Whether respondents identified any efforts to pay the outstanding account
Ratio Decidendi
The Court of Appeal held that the appellant was entitled to a solicitor's lien and that the motion judge erred by imposing terms that effectively removed the lien without any identified basis; the motion judge's order was set aside and a declaration of lien was entered with costs awarded.
Court Disposition
Appeal allowed; order of the motion judge set aside; declaration that appellant is entitled to a solicitor's lien; costs awarded.
Orders
- Order of the motion judge dated July 11, 2012 set aside.
- Declare that the appellant is entitled to a solicitor's lien in respect to the clients' files for unpaid legal fees.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
1 paragraphs
General Electric Canada Real Estate Financing Holding Company v. LibertyAssisted Living Inc. Collection Decisions of the Court of Appeal Date 2013-02-22 Neutral citation 2013 ONCA 119 Docket numbers C55911 Judges Rosenberg, Marc; Juriansz, Russell G.; LaForme, Harry Smith Subject Civil Decision Content COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO CITATION: General Electric Canada Real Estate Financing Holding Company v. Liberty Assisted Living Inc., 2013 ONCA 119 DATE: 20130222 DOCKET: C55911 Rosenberg, Juriansz and LaForme JJ.A. BETWEEN General Electric Canada Real Estate Financing Holding Company and General Electric Capital Canada Holdings Company Applicants and Liberty Assisted Living Inc., 729285 Ontario Limited, Amir Kassam, Rahim Bhaloo and Meyers Norris Penny Limited in its capacity as Receiver and Trustee in Bankruptcy of the Estates of 2008777 Ontario Inc., 2004631 Ontario Inc., 912087 Ontario Limited, 729982 Ontario Limited and 2007383 Ontario Inc. Respondents/Respondents to the Appeal and Brauti Thorning Zibarras LLP in its capacity as former lawyers to certain of the Respondents Interested Party/Appellant to the Appeal Karen J. Sanchez, for the appellant No one appearing for the respondents Heard: February 21, 2013 On appeal from the order of Justice Peter A. Cumming of the Superior Court of Justice, dated July 11, 2012. APPEAL BOOK ENDORSEMENT [1] On December 3, 2012 the Flom firm was removed from the record. No one appeared for the respondents and the respondents did not appear personally. [2] The appeal is allowed. Having found that the appellant was entitled to a lien, the motion judge imposed terms that effectively removed the lien. The respondents’ material does not identify any circumstances, at that point, to justify not imposing the lien or justify the terms imposed by the motion judge. [3] Further, the respondents failed to point to any efforts they had made to pay the outstanding account. [4] Finally, the motion judge did not identify any basis for imposing the terms that he did. [5] Accordingly, the appeal is allowed and the order of the motion judge set aside. An order will go declaring that the appellant is entitled to a solicitor’s lien in respect to the clients’ files for unpaid legal fees. The order may issue without approval of the respondents. [6] Accordingly, the appeal is allowed with costs fixed at $4,207.89 inclusive of HST and disbursements.