Sanmammas Compania Maritima S.A. v. Netuno ( The )
T-2428-89
Tremblay-Lamer J.
20/10/95
11 pp.
Motion under Federal Court Rules, RR. 344, 344.1 and 346, for directions to Taxing Officer in action for damages as result of collision between defendant ship Netuno and plaintiff's ship Captain Diamantis-Defendants belatedly admitted liability for portion of damages claimed-New R. 346 applicable as Rules providing whenever proceedings commenced, new tariff applicable if costs not already fixed-New approach therein: party-and-party costs should bear reasonable relationship to actual costs of litigation-Furthermore, procedures and delays which could reasonably have been avoided will be taken into consideration when determining taxation of costs-Defendants clearly adopted dilatory tactics causing, as result of currency exchange (US $-CDN $) fluctuation, defendants to benefit by approximately CDN $ 113,225 and causing plaintiffs to incur $120,000 in legal fees-Plaintiffs therefore entitled to taxation of costs in accordance with high side of column IV of Part II of Tariff B-Plaintiffs entitled to payment of fees and disbursements of expert from Italy even though latter not testifying at trial-As opinion of two other expert witnesses very important in issue of case, Taxing Officer directed to allow reasonable costs not only for attendance at trial but also for costs of preparation-Pursuant to R. 344.1, 150% of party-and-party costs incurred after plaintiffs' offer awarded to plaintiffs and Taxing Officer directed to allow 150% of taxable fee for preparation of trial and application for leave to amend second amended statement of claim and second amended statement of claim-Reasonable expenses allowed for counsel's costs to attend discovery proceedings in London, England and New York, USA and for inspecting plaintiffs' documents in Montréal-Federal Court Rules, C.R.C., c. 663, RR. 344 (as am. by SOR/87221, s. 2; 95-282, s. 1), 344.1 (as enacted by SOR/94-41, s. 3), 346 (as am. by SOR/87-221, s. 3).