Kyle Magee

The defendants brought a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiffs' action regarding a collapsed hog barn, arguing it was barred by the 15-year ultimate limitation period under the Limitations Act, 2002.

The plaintiffs argued the limitation period was tolled due to the defendants' wilful concealment of construction deficiencies.

The court found a genuine issue requiring a trial regarding the fraudulent concealment exception for the corporate defendants and dismissed their motion.

However, the court granted summary judgment dismissing the action against the individual engineer defendants, finding they were protected by a limitation of liability clause in their employer's contract.

The defendant, a criminal defence lawyer, brought a motion to dismiss the plaintiff's civil action for professional negligence as an abuse of process.

The plaintiff had been convicted of criminal offences, and his appeals, which included allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel against the defendant, were dismissed.

The court found that allowing the civil action to proceed would require re-litigating the criminal convictions and finding them incorrect, constituting an impermissible collateral attack.

However, noting the plaintiff's new evidence, the court stayed the action rather than dismissing it, pending a successful review of the convictions under the Criminal Code.