Ruling on costs still pending, almost 2 years after case ends
In early 2017, woman asked to be paid $22,000 in legal costs but Brampton judge’s delay means she hasn’t seen a cent
Firmly, but delicately, Stacy Sheene has been asking a Brampton judge since last year: Do you have my ruling? She’s still waiting for an answer. Sheene was successful last year on a motion in Ontario Superior Court, which found that the proper jurisdiction to deal with the family court case involving her two children was the state of Florida, where she lives.
As is often the case, the judge indicated at the end of that judgement that the parties could make submissions on legal costs.
Sheene says these were submitted by Jan. 31, 2017.
But nearly two years later, Superior Court Justice David Price still has not released his ruling on costs — and Sheene says she’s at a loss as to what to do. Despite several attempts at reaching out to Price by fax and through an assistant, Sheene says she has yet to be given an indication as to when she’ll be getting the costs order, if ever.
“I want to be respectful, especially because he still hasn’t made the decision,” Sheene told the Star. “Knowing how important it was for me to have the money and be able to move on, and still nothing, it’s really frustrating.”
Sheene submitted to the judge that she should receive her full legal costs for the motion, which totalled around $22,000 including costs associated with a previous lawyer.
“I think that especially in family law, there is so much traffic going into these courts and the whole system is being so overworked and there are so many important issues to be determined that relate to children, their safety, financial issues, that once a decision has been made (on those issues), the costs decision, on the scale of importance, is probably lower,” said Sheene’s Ontario lawyer, Reesa Heft.
“We just don’t have enough access to justice in this province on the family law side.”
Price would not be commenting on the case, as judges generally do not comment to the media, said Norine Nathanson, senior counsel in the office of the chief justice of the Superior Court.
The court has been improving its tracking system, especially in recent months, regarding reserved decisions, meaning judgments that have not yet been released, Nathanson said. She added that the court has “taken action” to ensure that reserved cost decisions are now tracked in the same way as other judgments.
“However, with our court releasing 10,000 decisions annually, there are inevitable challenges, as with any such system. Parties who are trying to follow up on reserve decisions and have not had success through the usual administrative procedures can write to the regional senior judge to bring the matter to their attention, where it will be promptly acknowledged,” Nathanson said.
“The Superior Court of Justice currently has three vacancies in Brampton and we are looking forward to having these vacancies filled. This will help alleviate the judges’ extraordinarily heavy workload in our court’s busiest judicial centre.”
The Canadian Judicial Council, which handles complaints about federally appointed judges such as those who preside in Superior Court, has said that judgments should be delivered within six months after the hearing, except in special circumstances.
“Indeed, judges should endeavour to perform all judicial duties, including the delivery of reserved judgments, with reasonable promptness,” said council spokesperson Johanna Laporte. “It remains an option for anyone who has concerns to write to the council and we will review those concerns in accordance with council’s complaints procedures.”
This is at least the second instance in which a Superior Court judge has taken such a long time to render a ruling on costs. In 2011, the Star reported on the case of Jacqueline Spicer. She had been waiting 29 months for Justice Susanne Goodman, who presides in Toronto, to rule on legal costs from Spicer’s child support trial. The day after the Star published its story online, Goodman released her ruling, awarding Spicer $7,500. Spicer told the Star at the time that she found herself in an awkward situation going public with her story.
It’s a similar situation for Sheene, who doesn’t want to appear as if she’s bothering the judge, but also needs an answer as to when she can expect a ruling that is almost two years in the making. Her lawyer has checked in with the judge’s office, and Sheene herself has called and sent letters, as recently as August.
She was able to pay her lawyer, she said, but had to put expenses on credit cards. She told Price in a letter this past August that the money would mean a lot, as it would likely go toward covering legal costs for family proceedings in Florida.
“I didn’t really have any idea how long it would take, but after a few months I was asking my lawyer, have you heard anything, and she was asking me, ‘have you heard anything?’ ” Sheene said.
“I didn’t want to call once a week, once a month. I didn’t want to make (the judge) mad, and at the same time I don’t want him to forget.”
“I didn’t want to call once a week, once a month ... and at the same time I don’t want him to forget.” STACY SHEENE WOMAN AWAITING RULING