Legal Blog

Costs, Principles of Award

Brough and Whicher v. Lebeznick 2017 Ont SCJ

Construction matter in which the plaintiff contractor ultimately recovered $31,000, about 55% of what it had been claiming; part of the claim had not been proven and part had been reduced by virtue of the owners’ counterclaim, which had been allowed only in part and which, the judge ruled, had contained claims that were both remote and excessive. The normal award of costs would have been a payment from the defendant to the plaintiff reduced somewhat because of the conduct of the parties. The judge ignored the final result, determined that the plaintiff had not acted reasonably to deal with the owners’ complaints about workmanship and took a hard line at the outset of litigation. The plaintiff had claimed $22,000 in costs, the defendants had claimed $39,000 in costs, and the court awarded the defendant costs of $15,000. We suggest that this case was decided on principles that may not be in accordance with law and is an aberration.

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