William S. Zener

Following the dismissal of the plaintiffs' action against the defendant lawyers, the court determined the issue of costs.

The plaintiffs argued that costs should not be awarded due to the lead plaintiff's hardship as a paraplegic, the fact that the defendants were insured by LawPro, and the defendants' failure to make settlement offers.

The court rejected these arguments, holding that hardship does not displace the rule that costs follow the event, and that the presence of insurance is irrelevant to costs awards.

The court fixed the defendants' costs at $250,000 for the main action and $7,500 for the abandoned Family Law Act claims.

The plaintiff was severely injured in a motorcycle accident in Jamaica.

She retained the defendant lawyer to investigate potential insurance claims.

The lawyer advised that her family's Ontario automobile insurance policy would not provide accident benefits due to a territorial restriction limiting coverage to North America, and thus did not file an application for benefits before the two-year limitation period expired.

The plaintiff sued the lawyer for professional negligence, arguing he should have filed the application to preserve her rights, especially given subsequent changes in case law.

The court dismissed the action, finding the lawyer met the standard of care of a reasonably competent expert in insurance law at the time, and that an application for benefits would likely have been denied anyway.