The plaintiff, Parbattie Poonwasee, sought costs after a successful negligence action against the defendant, Cecilia Plaza, following a motor vehicle accident.
A jury awarded the plaintiff $43,014.93 after deductions.
The plaintiff had made a Rule 49 offer to settle for $50,000, which the defendant rejected.
The court, applying Rule 57.01 principles, found the plaintiff entitled to partial indemnity costs, noting the defendant's "hardball" litigation strategy and lack of a settlement offer.
The court rejected arguments for denying costs based on simplified procedure limits or "divided success." While acknowledging proportionality, the court reduced the plaintiff's requested costs of $201,479.37 to $120,000, inclusive of disbursements and HST, due to duplicative, inappropriate, or excessive billing, including secretarial work billed by law clerks.
