What is the test for determining the amount of time spent by counsel on a trial?

Ontario, Canada


The following excerpt is from Zander Sod Company Limited v. Solmar Development Corp., 2011 ONSC 3874 (CanLII):

Generally, the court ought not to second guess the time spent by counsel, as observed by Nordheimer J. in Basedo v. University Health Network, [2002] O.J. No 597 (S.C.J.) where he said, “it is not the role of the court to second guess the time spent by counsel unless it is manifestly unreasonable in the sense that the total time spent is clearly excessive or the matter has been overly lawyered.” The costs proposed by the Plaintiffs are high, but the amounts at stake in the litigation were substantial. The trial lasted seven days. The costs are not so disproportionately high as to be manifestly unreasonable. I am prepared to accept them as a reasonable starting point.

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