In Pinsky v. 2479420 Ontario Inc. (Ont CA, 2024) the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed a lawyer's appeal from a lower court dismissal of a client account action:
[1] This is an appeal from the order of the motion judge dismissing the appellant’s action as an abuse of process. The motion judge found that the action contravened s. 2(1) of the Solicitors Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.15. He declined to grant leave, nunc pro tunc, to allow the appellant to bring an action under s. 8 of the Solicitors Act.
[2] The appellant makes numerous claims of error, but in his factum argues specifically that the motion judge erred by: (a) failing to conclude that his action was the appropriate way to proceed because the respondents disputed the nature and scope of his retainer; (b) causing procedural unfairness by dismissing his motion to further amend his statement of claim; and (c) reversing the burden of proof. We do not agree.
[3] Whether the respondents disputed the nature and scope of the appellant’s retainer has no bearing on the dismissal of his action. Section 2(1) of the Solicitors Act prohibits actions within one month of the delivery of a solicitor’s bill, and the appellant brought his action within less than a week.
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