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Personal costs against counsel denied despite unnecessary costs.
This costs decision addressed whether counsel for the plaintiff should be personally liable under rule 57.07(1) for costs thrown away arising from unnecessary attendance on a prior return of a transfer motion.
Applying the two-step framework governing personal costs against lawyers, the court held that counsel's conduct had caused unnecessary costs, but declined to impose personal liability because solicitor-client privilege and the possibility that counsel acted on client instructions made such an order unwarranted.
The previously ordered $550 was directed to be paid by the plaintiff within 30 days.
The plaintiff's collateral requests attacking the earlier endorsement and seeking assessment of prior costs were rejected, and the defendants' request for an additional $250 was also denied.
Judicial review of Small Claims Court interlocutory costs order dismissed as an improper disguised appeal.
The applicant lawyer commenced a Small Claims Court action against a former client for unpaid fees.
After failing to comply with a production order requiring documents to be organized chronologically, the Deputy Judge ordered the applicant to pay $2,000 in costs.
The applicant sought judicial review of this interlocutory costs order.
The Divisional Court dismissed the application, holding that it was essentially an appeal by a different name and that the Deputy Judge had jurisdiction to impose costs for litigation misconduct without breaching natural justice.
