Case Summary - Court of Appeal Decision in Price v. Sonsini Leading case Highlighting the Importance of a Fair Procedure for Clients to Asses a Lawyer’s Bills

Legal services are essential in various facets of our lives, yet the issue of a lawyer’s legal fees often sparks contention, particularly if the lawyer’s fees are unreasonably high. 

In 2002, Price v. Sonsini, one of the leading Ontario cases dealing with the assessment and reasonableness of lawyers fees in Ontario, was decided by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Price v. Sonsini centered on a dispute revolving around the legal fees charged by a law firm representing a client in a family law matter. During the retainer, the Lawyers delivered 4 interim accounts and 1 final account, totalling $133,350.14. The Client paid $67,511.10. 

The Client was unhappy with the amount of legal fees billed by the lawyers and obtained on requisition, an order for assessment of the lawyer’s 5 legal accounts under section 3(b) of the Solicitors Act.  Section 3 (b) provides that a client can obtain an order for assessment by requisition within one month of delivery of the lawyer’s account. 

The matter proceeded to an assessment hearing where the Assessment Officer reduced the Lawyer’s bills from $133,350.14 to $47,819.03 and awarded $10,000 in costs of the assessment to the client. 

Unhappy with the outcome of the Assessment Hearing that reduced the lawyer’ legal fees by more than half, the Lawyer served a motion seeking to oppose confirmation of the assessment officer’s report and a motion seeking to quash the registrar’s order for assessment on the ground that the registrar had no jurisdiction to order the assessment since 4 out of 5 accounts were delivered outside the one month period under section 3(b) the Solicitors Act. 

The Motions Judge agreed with the lawyer and found that the registrar had no jurisdiction to order the assessment of the lawyer’s bills since 4 out of the 5 of the lawyer’s bills had been delivered more than one month before the client obtained the registrar’s order for assessment and this fell outside of the one month limitation period under section 3 (b) of the Solicitors Act.  The Client appealed to the Court of Appeal who allowed the Appeal, setting aside the Motion’s Judge decision on this point.  

In reaching its decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal highlighted that the client was entitled to obtain an order for assessment under the Solicitors Act by requisition, provided he did so within one month of delivery of the final account. In other words, where interim accounts are rendered in connection with the same matter, the limitation period under section 3 (b) of the Solicitors Act in Ontario begins to run from the date of the lawyer’s final account, even if some of the lawyer’s interim accounts have been paid. 

More importantly were the Court of Appeal’s pronouncements regarding the importance of clients having a fair procedure for the assessment of lawyers fees and that Courts should exercise their inherent jurisdiction to ensure that clients are able to assess a lawyer’s fees despite procedural irregularities. In particular, at para 19 of the decision, the Court of Appeal wrote: 

“Public confidence in the administration of justice requires the court to intervene where necessary to protect the client’s right to a fair procedure for the assessment of a solicitor’s bill. As a general matter, if a client objects to a solicitor’s account, the solicitor should facilitate the assessment process, rather than frustrating the process…In my view, the courts should interpret legislation and procedural rules relating to the assessment of solicitors’ accounts in a similar spirit. As Orkin argues, “if the courts permit lawyers to avoid the scrutiny of their accounts for fairness and reasonableness, the administration of justice will be brought into disrepute.” The court has an inherent jurisdiction to control the conduct of solicitors and its own procedures. This inherent jurisdiction may be applied to ensure that a client’s request for an assessment is dealt with fairly and equitably despite procedural gaps or irregularities” 

Courts should follow these principles to ensure that clients have the right to challenge and assess their lawyer’s bill. 

If you are forced to bring a motion in order to assess your lawyer’s fees or your lawyer is challenging the jurisdiction of the Assessment Officer to assess the lawyer’s fees,  please complete the form below to set up a consultation with Assessment Lawyer, Karen Zvulony.