Legal Blog

Causation – Contract and Tort

Dobara Properties Ltd. v. Arnone 2016 Ont SCJ

Client had a claim against his real estate lawyers. The real estate he purchased was contaminated and he spent $57,000 to remediate it. His action was dismissed against the real estate lawyers because his trial lawyers commenced the action after the expiry of the limitation period. The client sued the trial lawyers for negligence. The client claimed the remediation costs; loss of the value of the property of $82,000; commission of $30,000 on a failed sale; excess mortgage interest of $29,000; and mental distress of $150,000. The client claimed that he would not have purchased the real estate had he known that it had been used as a former gasoline station. The trial lawyers admitted that they were negligent, but claimed that there were no compensable damages. The trial lawyers argued that since the plaintiff did not prove that the property was worth less than the amount the client paid for it, the client had no damages. The court noted that consequential damages were also payable, but found that the only foreseeable consequential damages were the remediation costs.

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