Legal Blog

Breach of Trust

Electro-Works Ltd. v. Fogler, Rubinoff LLP 2021 Ont SCJ

Lawyers had received settlement funds on behalf of a contractor who ultimately went bankrupt. Some of these funds were paid to subcontractors, some went to the contractor, and some were used to pay the lawyers’ account for work that it had performed for the contractor. The plaintiff subcontractor had not been paid because the contractor had informed the lawyers that no money was owed to that subcontractor. The plaintiff subcontractor successfully sued the lawyers for the amount they applied towards their account based on the lawyers being in knowing receipt of trust funds.

Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.