R. Gandotra

The defendants brought a motion for security for costs against the corporate plaintiff in an action arising from the purchase of a radiology clinic.

The plaintiff claimed it was impecunious and that its claim was not devoid of merit.

The court found that the plaintiff failed to provide sufficient financial disclosure to establish impecuniosity and that the merits of the complex claim could not be properly assessed at the interlocutory stage.

Applying a holistic approach, the court ordered the plaintiff to post security for costs in the total amount of $80,000 on a partial indemnity scale.

In an ongoing construction lien reference, both the plaintiff and the defendant sought costs for prior motions.

The plaintiff had taken over the litigation from the original plaintiff after the original plaintiff went bankrupt.

The court found that the defendant unreasonably delayed consenting to the plaintiff's lift-stay motions, entitling the plaintiff to costs.

However, the court also found that the current plaintiff was the 'real litigant' behind the bankrupt original plaintiff during the defendant's earlier successful stay motion, meeting the 'person of straw' test.

Consequently, the current plaintiff was held liable for the defendant's costs of that motion.

After setting off the amounts, the plaintiff was ordered to pay the defendant net partial indemnity costs of $31,500.