Rodney Godard

The plaintiffs brought a motion for a status hearing and timetable, while the defendants brought a cross-motion to dismiss the 2013 action for delay.

The plaintiffs' former counsel, who were suspended by the Law Society, caused significant delay and misled the plaintiffs.

The court found the plaintiffs had an acceptable explanation for the delay.

However, the court found the defendants would suffer non-compensable prejudice because the plaintiffs' former counsel lost the majority of the relevant documents, making complete documentary disclosure impossible.

The action was dismissed for delay.

Following the dismissal of the moving parties' motion for a Mareva injunction, the respondents sought their costs.

The court awarded substantial and full indemnity costs to the respondents, totaling over $126,000, finding that the moving parties had made serious, unfounded allegations of fraud and breach of trust, and had engaged in inappropriate conduct by raising unrelated regulatory issues to smear certain respondents.