Legal Blog

Lawyer’s Duty of Care: Court confirms that opposing counsel do not, generally, owe a duty of care to the opposing party

368230 Ontario Limited v. Feintuch Law 2018 Ont SCJ

Plaintiff mortgagee complained that the information he received from his lawyer as to the details of a mortgage transaction were incorrect and caused him to lend money that was no longer recoverable in whole. Plaintiff sued his own lawyer and the mortgagor’s lawyer, who had supplied the information. The judge struck the statement of claim against the mortgagor’s lawyer as disclosing no cause of action. A lawyer rarely has a duty of care to another party’s lawyer, particularly, as in this case, when the other party has its own lawyer and has never communicated directly with the opposite party’s lawyer.

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