PRACTICE |
Costs |
Champion International Corp. v. Sabina (The)
T-1116-00
2003 FCT 39, Blais J.
17/1/03
14 pp.
Plaintiff's action seeking order for costs against defendants --Whether plaintiff entitled to double costs because plaintiff's offer to settle valid in terms of Federal Court Rules, 1998--R. 420(1) providing for consequences of failure to accept plaintiff's offer to settle--In present case, offer to settle presented on behalf of plaintiff clear and unequivocal, requiring but response from defendants--Offer to settle presented by plaintiff to defendants clear and unequivocal, containing ingredient of compromise, having automatic effect of triggering doubling costs pursuant to r. 420--As to appropriate scale to evaluate assessment of costs, Apotex Inc. v. Syntex Pharmaceuticals International Ltd. (1999), 176 F.T.R. 142, [1999] F.C.J. No. 1465, providing explanation regarding concept of scaling--Matter of determining relevant factors--Factors to take into account herein: plaintiff completely successful in claim, case exceeding average complexity of average case, plaintiff's written offer to settle, amount of work in proceeding, defendant's conduct and lack of professionalism--Taking above factors into consideration, increase above column III of Tariff B level costs justified-- Therefore, costs should be assessed in accordance with column IV of Tariff B--Plaintiff entitled to party-and-party costs to date of service of offer and double such costs, excluding disbursements after that date--Federal Court Rules, 1998, SOR/98-106, r. 420.