James W. MacLellan

Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company brought a motion for a declaration that its perfected security interest under the Personal Property Security Act (PPSA) had priority over any solicitor's charging order that might be obtained by BPR Litigation Lawyers, the former lawyers for Unimac Group Ltd. The court dismissed the motion, finding that the PPSA does not apply to solicitors' charging orders.

Furthermore, the court held that the common law 'first in time' rule does not apply to solicitors' charging orders due to their equitable nature and purpose.

Trisura's indemnity agreement with Unimac did not preclude BPR from seeking a charging order against funds recovered or preserved through their instrumentality.

DCM Erectors Inc. brought a motion to stay enforcement of an unopposed judgment, remove opposing counsel for conflict of interest, and set aside the judgment in a complex construction lien dispute.

The Master dismissed the requests to remove counsel and set aside the judgment, finding no impropriety in the joint representation of sub-trades and the surety.

However, the Master granted a stay of enforcement of the personal judgment against DCM, finding it would be unjust to allow the surety to enforce assigned sub-trade debts against DCM while simultaneously resisting payment to DCM on its own lien claim.