In an important case recently released by the Court of Appeal for Ontario (the “Court”), Southwestern
Sales Corp. v. Spurr Bros Ltd. 2016 ONCA 590 (“Southwestern”), the Court imposed a positive
obligation on sophisticated corporate litigants to “supervise its counsel’s [lawyer’s] work to ensure an
expeditious determination of the action on the merits”. The Court’s comments in Southwestern were
made in the context of dismissing a construction lien action for delay after 13 years, and in the absence
of an acceptable explanation.
A New Era: Obligation to Know Thy Advocate and Supervise Thy Litigation
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