An Ontario court has awarded almost $200,000 in costs against a brokerage firm that was sued by a couple alleging that their portfolio was mismanaged by their advisors.
In Stradiotto v Bmo Nesbitt Burns et al., Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice ordered $195,000 in costs against BMO Nesbitt Burns, Inc., which defended a lawsuit brought by former clients, Donna and Rino Stradiotto, against the firm and their advisors, Brad Charlton and Albrecht Weller.
At trial, the court ordered a judgment in favour of the Stradiottos of $134,000 — although they had claimed almost $400,000 in damages in the original action.
On the issue of costs, the court said, “I agree with the submission made by the plaintiffs that cases such as this are very expensive to litigate effectively and that ordinary citizens may be discouraged from bringing forward valid claims against large financial institutions if there is an expectation that even if they are successful at trial, most of their damage recovery will be consumed by legal costs.”
It ultimately set the plaintiffs’ costs at $195,000; and, ordered that the firm pay them. It made no orders regarding the advisors individually. “In the exercise of the court’s discretion with respect to costs, it seems both commercially and practically reasonable that neither Mr. Charlton or Mr. Weller, personally, should be responsible for the costs of an action in which they were not necessary parties but their employer was,” it said.