Canada Case Law

Peterson v. Anderson

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The court exercised discretion to award lump sum costs against Ashton Anderson in the amount of $42,000 (inclusive of disbursements and HST) because Anderson was found solely liable for the intentional tort and the plaintiff made a substantial contribution to the successful result; the tariff was adjusted downward to reflect that most trial time related to the separate occupiers' liability claim against Kenney and to account for the plaintiff's multiple counsel; a Bullock/Sanderson order was refused because it was not reasonable to keep Kenney in the action after discoveries and the causes of…

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• Costs awards
• Social host liability
• Bullock/sanderson orders
• Lump sum costs
• Rule of thumb rejected
• Contributory negligence

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Bilin v. Sidhu

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Applying Rule 14-1(3) and related authority, the registrar concluded that defendant Hardip's repeated disclosure failures, lack of candour and fabricated/reconstructed evidence unjustifiably lengthened the litigation and warranted special costs. The registrar allowed special costs for the action through assessment but applied a small reduction to the amount claimed to account for fees potentially attributable to appearances for which costs were not awarded or for appeals. The proper award after assessment was $260,000 inclusive of disbursements, taxes and assessment costs, and the registrar d…

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• Promissory note
• Resulting trust
• Special costs
• Disclosure and discovery
• Certificate of pending litigation
• Costs assessment

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Malik Law Corporation v. Lally

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The registrar accepted much of the lawyer's work as reasonable but found billing format and specificity deficient, disallowed unproven photocopy/scan charges ($498.75), set a reasonable fee for services at $27,000, allowed other disbursements, credited prior payments of $14,000, declared an outstanding balance of $17,907.79, awarded contract interest at 12% per annum from July 25, 2024, and ordered each party bear their own costs of the review due to special circumstances.

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• Lawyer's bill review
• Retainer agreement
• Certificate of pending litigation (cpl)
• Disbursements
• Contract interest
• Costs of review

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Powell v. Ledroit Sabo Litigation

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The court held that appeal route in a solicitor-client assessment turns on the amount actually ordered payable, not the original bill. The appeal lay to the Divisional Court.

• Solicitor's costs assessment
• Appeal route jurisdiction
• Courts of justice act ss.6 and 19
• Transfer of appeal to divisional court
• Solicitor-costs-assessment
• Appellate-jurisdiction

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Martell v Nova Scotia (Attorney General)

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The Court approved the Settlement Agreement as fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the Class; interpreted "collected compensation" in the CFA as relating to amounts actually recovered and not limiting the fee here; and, applying statutory factors and accepted jurisprudential benchmarks, approved the Class Counsel Fee at 30% (maximum $12,529,710.10) and Disbursements of $100,161.40, directed payment in two instalments with a 20% holdback for potentially reverting funds, and approved $15,000 honoraria to each Representative Plaintiff.

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• Settlement approval
• Class counsel fees
• Contingency fee agreements
• Representative plaintiff honoraria
• Certification
• Independent assessment process

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Knight v. British Columbia (Public Safety)

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Leave to appeal from case planning conference orders was denied, and the no-fee application was also dismissed, because the proposed appeal lacked merit and would delay trial.

• Leave to appeal
• Case management/case planning conference
• Particulars and pleadings
• Examinations for discovery
• No-fee application under court of appeal rules r.85(6)
• Vicarious liability

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Iosipescu v. Kindred Living Inc.

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The court found the motion did not constitute a true emergency and that Tariff C costs were sufficient to do justice between the parties in respect of the emergency issue; accordingly the court declined to award lump sum costs and instead awarded Tariff C statutory-style amounts: $7,000 (all inclusive) to Mr. Iosipescu and $3,000 (all inclusive) to Marc and Nick, payable forthwith by Julie and in any event of the cause.

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• Emergency motions (cpr 28)
• Tariff c vs lump sum costs
• Default judgment
• Lis pendens
• Promissory notes

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XD v. SZ

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The court awarded party-and-party costs under Tariff C for a three-day hearing (maximum $6,000) but reduced the tariff by 25% because the successful party was self-represented; solicitor-client costs were not warranted as there were no exceptional circumstances to justify them; the award of $4,500 includes disbursements and travel and is payable in monthly installments of $500 beginning May 1, 2025; matters concerning the earlier contempt warrant are separate and not resolved in this proceeding.

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• Costs assessment
• Tariff costs vs solicitor-client costs
• Self-represented litigant compensation
• Enforcement and contempt orders

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Trottier v. Derrickson (dba RMD Group)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Appeal allowed from a costs order on a last-minute adjournment application; the court replaced a “full indemnity” award with party-and-party costs.

• Adjournment
• Costs thrown away
• Special costs
• Assize scheduling
• Standard of review
• Costs-thrown-away

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Richard Fayerman Law Corporation v. Lin

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Registrar Gaily reduced a lawyer’s bill after finding inadequate notice of a rate increase and excessive time and disbursements on a fee review.

• Fee review
• Disbursements
• Hourly rate increase
• Trust account application
• Delegation to contract lawyer
• Double billing

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