Financial Services Commission of Ontario
Commission des services financiers de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2007 ONFSCDRS 120
FSCO A05-002592
BETWEEN:
PAVANY THARMAKULASINGAM
Applicant
and
ECONOMICAL MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY
Insurer
DECISION ON A MOTION
Before:
Elizabeth Nastasi
Heard:
June 1, 2007, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto.
Appearances:
Meenaz Jaffer, student-at-law, for Mazin Rooz Mazin
Mr. Tharmakulasingam Kovindan on behalf of Mrs. Tharmakulasingam
Issues:
The Applicant, Pavany Tharmakulasingam, was injured in a motor vehicle accident on December 11, 2004. She applied for and received statutory accident benefits from Economical Mutual Insurance Company ("Economical"), payable under the Schedule.1 The parties were unable to resolve their disputes through mediation, and Mrs. Tharmakulasingam applied for arbitration at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario under the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended.
A review of the file indicates that a pre-hearing discussion took place on August 23, 2006. An arbitration hearing is scheduled for June 25, 26, 27, 28, 2007.
The firm Mazin Rooz Mazin brought a motion seeking to withdraw as Mrs. Tharmakulasingam's solicitors of record. Mrs. Tharmakulasingam did not consent to the request.
The issue in this motion hearing is as follows:
- Is the law firm Mazin Rooz Mazin permitted to withdraw as Mrs. Tharmakulasingam's solicitors of record pursuant to Rule 9.8 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code (Fourth Edition, Updated October 2003) (the "Practice Code")?
Result:
- Mazin Rooz Mazin is permitted to withdraw as Mrs. Tharmakulasingam's solicitors of record with the following conditions:
(i) Mazin Rooz Mazin shall ensure that its documentary production obligations in this matter have been completed, subject to the cooperation of Mrs. Tharmakulasingam in providing any necessary authorizations; and
(ii) Mazin Rooz Mazin shall provide Mrs. Tharmakulasingam with a full copy of her file and any supporting documents in its possession by Friday, June 8, 2007.
EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:
Mr. Jaffer, on behalf of Mazin Rooz Mazin, submitted that the request to be removed as solicitors of record is based on a breakdown in the solicitor-client relationship. He submitted that the firm has been unable to obtain meaningful instructions from Mrs. Tharmakulasingam and has experienced significant difficulty in communicating with her about her case. In support of the motion to withdraw, Mazin Rooz Mazin served and filed a Notice of Motion and Motion Record including an affidavit by David Levy, lawyer at the firm.2 I find that these materials were properly served on both the Applicant and Insurer.3
Mr. Kovindan made submissions on behalf of his wife. He acknowledged that there has been a breakdown in the relationship between himself and some of the members of the firm Mazin Rooz Mazin. Whether Mrs. Tharmakulasingam consented to their removal as solicitors of record was somewhat ambiguous to me, however, Mr. Kovindan did request that I make note of the fact that they were not "firing" Mazin Rooz Mazin.
Rule 9.8 of the Practice Code states:
Where the party represented provides written consent to the representative's request for withdrawal, the Registrar or an adjudicator shall permit the representative's withdrawal. Otherwise, an adjudicator may permit the representative to withdraw, subject to such terms as the adjudicator considers just.
I accept that there has been a breakdown in the solicitor-client relationship in this case and order that Mazin Rooz Mazin be removed as solicitor of record. Given the imminence of the arbitration hearing, I will permit the withdrawal of counsel subject to conditions in order to assist Mrs. Tharmakulasingam in either effectively representing herself at the upcoming hearing or in obtaining new counsel. The withdrawal is subject to the following conditions:
(i) Mazin Rooz Mazin shall ensure that its documentary production obligations in this matter have been completed, subject to the cooperation of Mrs. Tharmakulasingam in providing any necessary authorizations; and
(ii) Mazin Rooz Mazin shall provide Mrs. Tharmakulasingam with a full copy of her file and any supporting documents in its possession by Friday, June 8, 2007.
June 12, 2007
Elizabeth Nastasi
Arbitrator
Date
Financial Services Commission of Ontario
Commission des services financiers de l’Ontario
Neutral Citation: 2007 ONFSCDRS 120
FSCO A05-002592
BETWEEN:
PAVANY THARMAKULASINGAM
Applicant
and
ECONOMICAL MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY
Insurer
ARBITRATION ORDER
Under section 282 of the Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.I.8, as amended, it is ordered that:
- Mazin Rooz Mazin is entitled to withdraw as Mrs. Tharmakulasingam's solicitors of record pursuant to Rule 9.8 of the Dispute Resolution Practice Code (Fourth Edition, Updated October 2003), subject to the following conditions:
(i) Mazin Rooz Mazin shall ensure that its documentary production obligations in this matter have been completed, subject to the cooperation of Mrs. Tharmakulasingam in providing any necessary authorizations; and
(ii) Mazin Rooz Mazin shall provide Mrs. Tharmakulasingam with a full copy of her file and any supporting documents in its possession by Friday, June 8, 2007.
June 12, 2007
Elizabeth Nastasi
Arbitrator
Date
Footnotes
- The Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule —Accidents on or after November 1, 1996, Ontario Regulation 403/96, as amended.
- Exhibit #1 - Motion Record of Mazin Rooz Mazin
- Exhibit#2 - Affidavit of Service of Silviu Chiriac.