Luis Caguana v. RBC General Insurance Company, 2009 ONFSCDRS 63

Financial Services Commission des

Commission services financiers

of Ontario de l’Ontario

Neutral Citation: 2009 ONFSCDRS 63

FSCO A08-001028

BETWEEN:

LUIS CAGUANA

Applicant

and

RBC GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY

Insurer

DECISION ON A MOTION

Before: Jeffrey Rogers

Heard: May 22, 2009, at the offices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in Toronto.

Appearances: Ms. Samiya Ahmad, Solicitor for Zayouna Law Firm

Mr. Caguana, in person

Issues:

The issue in this motion is:

Should Zayouna Law Firm be removed as solicitors of record for Mr. Caguana?

Result:

Zayouna Law Firm is removed as solicitors of record for Mr. Caguana.

EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS:

Zayouna Law Firm brought a motion for removal as solicitors of record for Mr. Caguana. The motion was scheduled to be heard by telephone conference call, on May 6, 2009. After discussing the matter with counsel and Mr. Caguana on that date, I adjourned the motion to May 22, 2009, at the offices of the Commission. Mr. Caguana advised that he was not prepared to proceed because he had spent the last two days in the hospital and he still felt ill. It also appeared that he was having difficulty understanding the reasons that his solicitors were seeking removal from the record.

On May 22, 2009, Ms. Ahmad represented Zayouna Law Firm. Mr. Caguana attended. He was assisted in communicating by John Hernandez, Spanish interpreter. Based upon the information provided by Ms. Ahmad and Mr. Caguana, I was satisfied that there has been a breakdown in the relationship between Mr. Caguana and Zayouna Law Firm, justifying its removal as his solicitors of record.

Mr. Caguana advised that he had discussed the matter with a new lawyer but was awaiting the outcome of the motion before seeking to retain that lawyer. He expressed concern that he will not be ready to proceed with the hearing, scheduled to start on June 1, 2009. Ms. Ahmad advised that there will be no restriction on transferring Mr. Caguana’s file to new counsel. She also advised that she had discussed the issue of an adjournment with counsel for RBC who indicated that he would not oppose an adjournment if the motion was successful. I later received written confirmation of this position from counsel for RBC.

For these reasons, I have made an order removing Zayouna Law Firm from the record as solicitors for Mr. Caguana.

May 27, 2009

Jeffrey Rogers

Arbitrator

Date