M.S.W. Garland

The plaintiff sought substantial indemnity costs after successfully resisting the defendants' motion for summary judgment in a property line dispute.

The defendants argued for no costs or partial indemnity.

The court found that the defendants did not act unreasonably in bringing their summary judgment motion, despite its ultimate failure, and therefore declined to award substantial indemnity costs under Rule 20.06.

The court awarded the plaintiff partial indemnity costs of $25,000, inclusive of taxes and disbursements, noting that much of the work would have been necessary for trial regardless.

The defendants moved for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff's action for inducing breach of contract, nuisance, and trespass arising from a property line dispute.

The defendants had moved a fence onto the plaintiff's driveway shortly before the scheduled closing of the plaintiff's sale of her property, causing the purchasers to refuse to close.

The court dismissed the summary judgment motion, finding that the conflicting evidence regarding the historical location of the fence and the defendants' intent to procure a breach of contract raised genuine issues of credibility that required a trial.