The moving party accountant sought an order that two related professional negligence actions—one against an accountant and another against lawyers—be tried together.
Both actions arose from the plaintiffs’ failed attempt to claim allowable business investment losses (ABILs) on their tax returns, which were rejected by the Canada Revenue Agency.
The court held that the claims involved common questions of fact and law, including the viability of the ABIL strategy, the advice provided by both professionals, contributory negligence, and overlapping damages.
Trying the matters separately risked inconsistent findings and duplicated evidence.
The court therefore ordered that the two actions be tried together or sequentially before the same judge and provided directions regarding the use of existing discovery transcripts.
