Leslie Mary Adamina Boyer de la Giroday

This motion involved cross-applications concerning pleadings amendments and disclosure of settlement minutes in a professional negligence action against a solicitor.

The plaintiffs sought to amend their statement of claim to limit damages to the defendant's proportionate share of fault.

The defendant sought production of confidential settlement minutes from related estate litigation, arguing their relevance to damages and the ability to defend the claim, and also sought leave to add third parties and amend his statement of defence.

The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to amend their claim.

Crucially, the court ordered the disclosure of the settlement minutes, finding them relevant to the assessment of damages and that the public interest in a fair trial and preventing overcompensation outweighed the interest in settlement confidentiality, especially given the confidentiality clause allowed disclosure by court order.

The court also granted the defendant leave to amend his statement of defence.

In an ongoing estate litigation matter, the court determined costs for several preliminary steps, including the determination of an estate asset, production of solicitor files, an abandoned consolidation motion, and case management conferences.

The court awarded costs to the applicant and other beneficiaries, payable largely by the former estate trustees personally due to their improper conduct and conflicts of interest, with some portions payable by the estate.