Costs 2012


Course Date: May 31, 2012

Course Agenda ▼

Welcome and Introduction

Greg T. Palm — Palm & Company Legal Counsel, Surrey

Costs of Litigation

A. The Current Offer to Settle Regime: What We Have Learned in the Infant Years

  • complying (substantially) with formal requirements
  • assessing the reasonableness of offers to settle
  • the comparison of the parties’ financial circumstances
  • offers to settle multiple actions or actions involving multiple parties

Ryan W. Parsons — Eyford Macaulay Shaw & Padmanabhan LLP, Vancouver

B. Orders For Costs Against Lawyers

  • current and historical framework for such orders
  • conduct that may result in an award
  • issues of solicitor-client privilege
  • is the frequency increasing (and if so, why?)

John W. Horn, QC — Ramsay Lampman Rhodes, Nanaimo

Networking Break

C. Costs Assessments: Current Issues and Common Missteps

  • improving bills of costs
  • properly preparing for the assessment
  • commonly misunderstood tariff items
  • disbursements: overhead item or recoverable direct cost?
  • recoverability of borrowing costs incurred to fund litigation

Registrar Kathryn S. Sainty — Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver

Lunch (provided)—For And Against Rule 9-1: A Lunchtime Debate

The Honourable Mr. Justice Nathan H. Smith — Supreme Court of British Columbia, Vancouver
Peter C.P. Behie, QC — Ramsay Lampman Rhodes, Nanaimo
Gordon Turriff, QC — Stikeman Elliott LLP, Vancouver

Costs as Between Lawyer and Client

A. Limiting Disputes by Documenting and Explaining Retainer Terms

  • the importance of recording terms
  • common issues relating to retainer terms and how to solve them
  • the lawyer’s duty to advise—offsetting the disparity in bargaining power
  • avoiding examinations (or at least positioning yourself to defend them)

Greg T. Palm — Palm & Company Legal Counsel, Surrey

B. Entire Retainers: Quit or Get Paid, Not Both (Usually?)

  • the entire contract principle, and whether it remains intact
  • the consequences of withdrawal
  • what constitutes “cause” for withdrawal
  • withdrawal for financial reasons

Gordon D. Phillips — Phillips & Company, Vancouver

Networking Break

C. Not Quite All About Lawyers' Liens and Charging Orders

  • using and losing possessory liens
  • the misunderstood common law lien on fruits of litigation
  • charging orders by statute
  • priority issues
  • acting for clients facing lien claims

Gordon Turriff, QC — Stikeman Elliott LLP, Vancouver

Concluding Remarks

Greg T. Palm — Palm & Company Legal Counsel, Surrey