City must pay legal bills in right-to-camp hearing
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Updated: August 07, 2009 11:46 AM
Two lawyers took up the case of Victoria's homeless on a pro bono basis, but will now have their legal tabs paid by the city.
Justice Ross has ruled the City of Victoria must pay an estimated $260,000 to lawyers Irene Faulkner and Catherine Boies Parker.
The money will reimburse them for their time and expenses incurred while defending their clients' rights to erect shelter in Victoria's parks. They won their case in October.
"I think it's a major victory," said Faulkner. "I think the message the court is basically trying to send is that we can't expect people to take on complex charter litigation on a pro bono basis if there is no hope of being reimbursed."
The basic rule guiding most litigation is that the successful party is entitled to costs -- generally at least 50 per cent of their legal bills, Faulkner explained.
This case is unusual in that the nine defendants are homeless and had no legal expenses to reimburse.
In her ruling, Justice Ross acknowledged the plaintiff's concerns.
"I accept that the city does not have limitless resources; however what must be addressed is the particular litigation and who should bear its costs," she wrote in her decision. "I am of the view that as between the city and the defendants’ counsel it is the city who should bear the costs of this litigation."
Faulkner called the decision a heads-up to other counsel weighing the benefits of taking on pro bono cases.
"It's not the end of the world, we can take these cases," she said. "(Having the city pay legal costs) acknowledges (that) this was a very long and protracted court case that went on for basically three years and is still going on."
rholmen@saanichnews.com
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