‘Inexcusable’ trial delays earn bleak dismissal in decades-long dispute

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick has penned a rewrite of Bleak House — an update, as it were, of Charles Dickens’ classic 19th-century novel.

In a 13,000-word ruling, Fitzpatrick attempted to plunge a stake into the heart of a lawsuit between two scofflaws over a verbal deal 23 years ago in the middle of stock sleight-of-hand.

The litigation has outlived both original lawyers, and a third material witness died as well.

Of course, both principals pointed a finger at the other for the epic delay and the underlying plot boiled down to a he-said, hesaid argument.

Not surprisingly, both claimed the other was unreliable.

While Dickens used a fictional court case, Jarndyce and Jarndyce, to attack the glacial English judicial system, Fitzpatrick didn’t have to invent these hoary proceedings.

And they may even yet not be over in spite of her dismissal order.

“This action has been outstanding since 1999, some 17 years, and is only now possibly on the cusp of being finally determined by way of summary trial,” the justice explained.

“I say ‘possibly’ both because of this application and because of issues that may arise as to the ability of this court to determine the issues in such a fashion.”

My now-retired colleagues David Bains and Gordon Hamilton wrote about this Vancouver Stock Exchange debacle more than two decades ago in 1995.

Forget bulls and bears, the VSE had a reputation for shearing sheep due to the prevalence of swindles and market manipulations that fleeced investors.

In 1999, it was merged into the Canadian Venture Exchange.

Back in 1995, the B.C. Securities Commission imposed a 17-year ban from being a company officer or director against John Roeder, from Idaho, and slapped a 25-year ban on Tim Pinchin for their roles in Keywest Resources Ltd.

In April 1993, Roeder, as president of Keywest, struck a deal with Pinchin to transfer, for $850,000, controlling interest in the shell created in 1992 as an oil and gas play.

But two months earlier, the VSE had warned Roeder that it must approve any change in control of the company. He ignored the exchange.

In the midst of the improper transaction, on June 15, 1993, in a separate deal on behalf of Keywest, Roeder issued a $192,000 personal cheque to a company controlled by Pinchin for longdistance telephone time.

When the regulatory authorities got wind of the shenanigans, a cease trading order was issued in July 1993 and the Keywest transaction collapsed.

The securities commission found Keywest engaged in various improprieties and failed to make proper disclosure.

Unhappy with the findings, after an unsuccessful appeal, Roeder sued everyone in sight.

On the eve of the applicable six-year limitation period expiring, he filed a handwritten writ commencing this action against Pinchin over the $192,000.

“Despite a complete failure to obtain any recovery through his various actions in the 14 years after the collapse of the Keywest transaction ... Roeder wasn’t done yet,” Fitzpatrick explained.

After he lost his other suits, Roeder turned his sights back to Pinchin and “doubled down,” making serious allegations of misappropriation, fraud and breach of trust.

But on the eve of trial in October 2014, the two settled everything except for their dispute about the money. Roeder refused to give up, but the court threw in the towel for him.

“Here, there has been an almost 17-year delay between the filing of the claim in June 1999 and when Roeder filed his third notice of intention to proceed in April 2016 … I have no hesitation in concluding that there has been inordinate delay in the prosecution of this litigation,” Fitzpatrick said.

She slammed Roeder’s “lackadaisical” attitude and belief that “time was on his side.”

“After finding inordinate and inexcusable delays attributable to Roeder, and prejudice suffered by Pinchin, I am not convinced that there are any other circumstances which would sway me to the conclusion that Pinchin can still be afforded a fair trial in this matter such that justice would be served,” Fitzpatrick concluded.

“Roeder has approached this litigation in a dilatory fashion when all aspects of the issues — particularly the alleged oral agreement between the parties and the serious nature of the allegations — pointed to the need to determine the issues as soon as possible.”