What circumstances may justify a special costs award for a party who pursues a meritless claim?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Liu v 0880984 B.C. Ltd., 2020 BCSC 1342 (CanLII):

Mayer v. Osborne Contracting Ltd., 2011 BCSC 914 lists circumstances that may justify a special costs award (at para. 11): (a) where a party pursues a meritless claim and is reckless with regard to the truth; (b) where a party makes improper allegations of fraud, conspiracy, fraudulent misrepresentation, or breach of fiduciary duty; (c) where a party has displayed “reckless indifference” by not recognizing early on that its claim was manifestly deficient; (d) where a party made the resolution of an issue far more difficult than it should have been; (e) where a party who is in a financially superior position to the other brings proceedings, not with the reasonable expectation of a favourable outcome, but in the absence of merit in order to impose a financial burden on the opposing party; (f) where a party presents a case so weak that it is bound to fail, and continues to pursue its meritless claim after it is drawn to its attention that the claim is without merit; (g) where a party brings a proceeding for an improper motive; (h) where a party maintains unfounded allegations of fraud or dishonesty; and (i) where a party pursues claims frivolously or without foundation.

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