S. Tripodi

Following dismissal of a plaintiff’s appeal from a master's order, the court determined the issue of costs.

The appellant failed to provide written costs submissions despite being granted additional time to do so.

The respondents sought substantial indemnity costs, while also claiming partial indemnity costs.

The court concluded that the appeal had been pursued in an unnecessarily aggressive and overly technical manner, requiring additional work by the respondents.

Costs were awarded against the appellant on a reduced partial indemnity basis.

The plaintiff appealed a Master's order that set aside an amended statement of claim delivered while the defendants' motion to strike was outstanding.

The plaintiff had aggressively sought default judgments without notice despite knowing the defendants were represented and actively defending.

The court upheld the Master's reliance on the established practice requiring leave or consent to amend a pleading in the face of a motion to strike.

The court also noted that the Rules of Professional Conduct must be read with the Principles of Civility, and adopting technical interpretations of the Rules of Civil Procedure to deny a represented defendant the right to be heard is not condoned.

The appeal was dismissed.