Court File and Parties

Court File No.: FS-17-8710M Date: 2019-06-24 Superior Court of Justice - Ontario

Re: Brenden Peter Baran, Applicant And: Jessica Mary Baran, Respondent

Before: Justice J.R. Sproat

Counsel: Carol Allen, for the Applicant Esra Samli, for the Respondent

Costs Endorsement

[1] This was a six day trial concerning custody of, and access to, the parties’ now four year old son. Jessica was successful at trial in that Brenden sought shared week about access and I made an order that essentially maintained the status quo of alternating weekend and some mid-week access. I also ordered that Jessica have sole custody.

[2] Jessica made an offer on October 31, 2018, however, the terms were non-severable and Jessica did not better this offer as to the financial terms ultimately agreed to.

[3] Jessica made a further offer April 1, 2019 which contained severable parts. She did not better this offer as the amount of access I ordered exceeded her offer.

[4] The parties resolved financial issues on the first day of trial when Jessica agreed to settle on the financial terms of a March 12, 2019 offer by Brenden. The provisions of this offer were, however, not severable. The offer included week about shared custody so Brenden did not better this offer, given my conclusion on custody and access.

[5] Ms. Samli claimed costs of $23,500 (inclusive of disbursements and HST) on a partial indemnity basis and $34,544 on a substantial indemnity basis. The hourly rate claimed and the time spent are reasonable and within the reasonable expectations of Brenden. Custody and access issues were extremely important to both parties.

[6] It was clear that Jessica’s primary concern was custody and access and I find there is a high probability this case would have settled if Brenden had not maintained his position of week about shared custody which I firmly rejected.

[7] In my view Brenden’s position on custody and access was unreasonable given the factors I mentioned in my reasons. As such, I conclude that Brenden should pay costs somewhat greater than partial indemnity. I order costs, payable by Brenden within 30 days, as follows:

Fees $27,000 Disbursements $1,252 Total $28,251 plus applicable HST

J.R. SPROAT Date: June 24, 2019