Legal Blog

Costs – Joint and Several Liability

Girgis-Boktor v. Reddy 2016 Ont SCJ

Four defendants brought a motion to have the plaintiff’s lawyer disqualified. The motion was dismissed with $50,000 awarded in costs. One defendant wanted the costs awarded to be on a several basis so that he was only liable for 25%. The general rule is that liability for costs is imposed on a joint and several basis unless there is a reason why the court, in exercise of its discretion, should order otherwise. The judge held that the liability should be joint and several; he felt that the risk of non-collection should lie with each defendant rather than the plaintiff.

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