Is a self-represented litigant entitled to the same costs as a lawyer?
Ontario, Canada
The following excerpt is from Lemire v. Burley, 2021 ONSC 6901 (CanLII):
Self-represented litigants, including lawyers, “are not entitled to costs calculated on the same basis as those of the litigant who retains counsel”: Benarroch, at para 25, quoting from para 26 of Fong v. Chan. Where a litigant is self-represented, they are not entitled to compensation for the time and effort that any litigant would have devoted to the case but only for the work done over and above the normal involvement of the client and “provided it concerns work that would ordinarily be accomplished by a lawyer. The self-represented litigant must also show that an opportunity cost was incurred because some remunerative activity was forgone”: Benarroch, at para 27. Analysis
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