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.
