Legal Blog

Costs Assessment

1632093 Ontario Inc. v. Condominium Corporation No. 74 2020 Ont CA

The judge was about to order interest at 24% per year in accordance with the terms of an invoice but, after he realised that the statement of claim had requested only Courts of Justice interest, he declined to order the higher interest. Because success was divided on a dollar and cents basis, the judge ordered that no costs be paid – even though he granted the plaintiff a judgment of $62,000. The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from the defendant, but allowed the plaintiff’s cross-appeal regarding costs. Costs cannot be awarded on a distributive basis. When the matter was sent back to the trial judge, the trial judge ordered costs in favour of the plaintiff.

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