Following the settlement of a tort action arising from a pedestrian struck by a transit bus, the parties disputed the quantum of costs payable to the plaintiff.
The defendant argued the pretrial judge lacked jurisdiction to fix costs and that costs should only be proportional to the $100,000 tort component of the settlement, excluding the $550,000 statutory accident benefits component.
The court declined to recuse itself, finding jurisdiction to fix costs.
The court held that costs should be assessed on the global $650,000 settlement because the defendant directly benefited from the accident benefits settlement by reducing its tort exposure.
The court fixed partial indemnity fees at $300,000, post-settlement fees at $20,000, and disbursements at $125,000, plus HST.
