Robert Winterstein

The appellant, a lawyer, appealed from a summary judgment dismissing his counterclaim against his former counsel, Lang Michener LLP.

The counterclaim alleged negligent advice regarding a potential claim against his professional liability insurer (LawPro) for coverage of an Italian judgment based on fraud.

The motion judge found no coverage existed under the policy because the Italian judgment was based on fraud rather than professional negligence or error.

The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal, finding the Italian court had explicitly declined jurisdiction over professional liability claims and the judgment was based on extra-contractual fraud, not professional services.

The court also upheld the costs award of $45,000 against the appellant.

The defendants brought a motion to dismiss the plaintiff's legal malpractice action due to his failure to pay multiple costs orders totaling $29,000.

The plaintiff, a self-represented litigant, had a history of unpaid costs awards and had made numerous unproven allegations of bias and corruption against judges and opposing counsel.

The court found that the plaintiff had no intention of paying the outstanding costs and dismissed the action under Rule 60.12, subject to a condition allowing the plaintiff to move to set aside the dismissal if he successfully appealed a related matter to the Supreme Court of Canada.