In Caskanette v Bong-Keun Choi Dentistry ( 2016 ONSC 6448) Justice Mitchell was hearing an appeal from the Small Claims Court where the Plaintiff was found to have dismissed with just cause. In the alternative, the Small Claims Court judge said that if he had found no just cause, he would have awarded a notice period of 4 months , which worked out to be worth $7,575.
The Superior Court found that just cause was not proven and awarded the Plaintiff $7,575.
In their costs submission, Plaintiffs’ counsel ( who was 31 years at the bar) claims he spent 87.6 hours on the appeal, and another 20.5 hours by law clerks and students.
The Superior Court judge commented on the excessive amount of time spent by Plaintiff’s counsel and ultimately awarded costs of $10,000, inclusive of HST and disbursements. This is only $1,000 more than the Plaintiffs’ lawyer claim for HST and disbursements.
If in fact Plaintiffs’ counsel actually charged his client $56, 320 for the appeal and he recovered $17,375, then this “win” only cost her a mere $38,945. The plaintiff, by the way, made $22,725 per annum in the job that she lost.