The moving party law firm brought a motion to set aside a registrar's ex-parte order for the assessment of nine of its accounts, arguing that eight of the accounts were final and delivered outside the one-month limitation period under s. 3(b) of the Solicitors Act.
The responding party client argued the accounts were interim because they related to ongoing matters.
The court found that the retainer was a general retainer involving multiple legal proceedings, and the accounts were rendered for specified periods of time for work performed on all matters.
The court held that such periodic accounts are presumed to be final accounts.
As there was no evidence to rebut this presumption, the eight accounts were deemed final, and the registrar lacked jurisdiction to order their assessment.
The motion was granted.
