Mr. M. Cupello

The court determined costs following motions in related family and civil actions.

The applicant in the family action sought full recovery costs, alleging bad faith by the respondent in failing to honour settlement minutes.

The court found the respondent's conduct unreasonable but not amounting to bad faith, awarding partial costs.

In the civil action, the plaintiffs sought costs against the respondent's lawyer personally under Rule 57.07.

The court declined to order costs against the lawyer personally, finding it was not one of the clearest cases, but awarded partial indemnity costs against the respondent.

Following a successful motion for summary judgment on a personal guarantee, the plaintiff sought costs on a substantial indemnity basis or, alternatively, partial indemnity up to the date of an offer to settle and substantial indemnity thereafter.

The defendant argued the claimed amounts were excessive.

Applying the principles of reasonableness and proportionality under Rule 57.01, the court fixed costs at $12,500 inclusive of fees, disbursements, and HST, noting the motion was not complex but the defendant had unreasonably defended it and rejected a favourable offer to settle.