Scott McTaggart

The plaintiff brought a motion to consolidate two London actions, order joint examinations for discovery with a related Toronto action, waive the deemed undertaking rule to allow sharing of evidence between the actions, and transfer the London action to Toronto.

The defendants opposed the joint discovery and waiver of the deemed undertaking rule.

The court granted the consolidation on consent and waived the deemed undertaking rule, finding significant overlap in evidence and witnesses, and that joint proceedings would be more efficient and avoid inconsistent findings.

The request to transfer the action to Toronto was deferred to the Regional Senior Justice in Toronto.

Following a written motion by several defendants to transfer the proceeding to another county, which was granted, the court determined the appropriate quantum of costs.

The moving parties sought $3,000 in costs and argued the motion was unnecessary because the action had been commenced in the wrong venue.

The court held that commencing the action in the original venue was permissible under Rule 13.1.01(2) of the Rules of Civil Procedure and rejected the suggestion that the motion should necessarily have been consented to.

The court found the time claimed for the motion disproportionate and reduced certain disbursements.

Costs were assessed at $1,500 all inclusive payable by the plaintiff.