An appeal by solicitors regarding the approval of contingency fee agreements in an infant settlement involving both a tort claim and an accident benefits claim arising from a motor vehicle accident.
The motion judge approved the contingency fee agreement for the tort claim but reduced the fees for the accident benefits claim, and declined to award GST/HST.
The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's decision to consider the two claims separately and to reduce the accident benefits fees based on the lower risk and complexity of that claim compared to the tort claim.
However, the Court of Appeal found that the motion judge erred in not awarding GST/HST on the approved fees, as the contingency fee agreement explicitly provided for such taxes in addition to the fee amount.
