Legal Blog

Costs Outline

Kossay El-Khodr v. Northbridge Commercial Insurance Company 2020 Ont SCJ

Successful party wanted to obtain more costs than was set out in its costs outline. That amount was lower than it should have been due to inadvertence. The judge refused to do so. The purpose of a costs outline is to force a party to commit to an amount it will be seeking in costs so that, if it is unsuccessful, it cannot be heard to say that the motion was simple or unimportant in order to diminish the costs that otherwise would be payable to the opposite party. Allowing the party to then increase the costs, when successful, would give it the benefit of potentially driving down the costs it would be required to pay if unsuccessful without any corresponding detriment if successful.

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