Bryan A. Carroll

The plaintiff corporation sued its former solicitor in negligence, alleging he was in a conflict of interest and breached his fiduciary duty while acting for both sides in a joint venture and subsequent purchase and sale agreement for an apartment building conversion.

The plaintiff claimed the solicitor failed to advise them of their options when purchasers resiled from agreements and failed to disclose a vendor take back mortgage provided to another party.

The court dismissed the action, finding that while the solicitor breached the Rules of Professional Conduct by failing to obtain written consent for the joint retainer, his conduct did not fall below the standard of care of a reasonably competent solicitor.

The court also found no breach of fiduciary duty, as the undisclosed information was not material, and concluded the plaintiff failed to establish causation or damages.

The plaintiff brought a pre‑trial motion under Rule 21 seeking a determination of whether an insurer must respond to his claim arising from a motor vehicle collision involving the defendants.

The plaintiff argued that resolving the insurance coverage issue early would facilitate mediation and settlement discussions.

The court held that the plaintiff lacked standing to seek declaratory relief regarding coverage because no cause of action existed against the insurer prior to obtaining judgment against the insured defendants under s. 258 of the Insurance Act.

The court also found the issues raised involved mixed questions of fact and law and were not raised by the pleadings.

The motion was therefore dismissed.