The third parties brought a motion for partial summary judgment seeking dismissal of the defendant's third party claim against them in a negligence action arising from a cottage fire allegedly caused by a firepit.
Applying the factors from Malik v. Attia, 2020 ONCA 787, the court declined to permit the partial summary judgment motion to proceed.
The court found that proceeding with the motion would not reduce judicial resources already allocated for the upcoming trial, the trial was less than four months away, and there was a real risk of inconsistent findings between the motion and trial given that the third parties' liability was dependent upon causation issues to be determined in the main action.
