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Lawyer told to pay back $250,000 in fees to developers * 4 Mar 2009 An Ottawa lawyer has been ordered to pay back his clients more than $250,000 in legal fees billed over the course of a Lowertown condo development project. D. Kenneth Gibson, of Gibson & Associates LLP, has been ordered by the Ontario Court of Appeal to pay back $258,596.21 to former clients Michael Paoletti, Giuseppe Trapani, Issam Mroue, Francesco Donato and John Russo. The five men had retained Gibson’s services to address legal issues surrounding their development project at 257 Cumberland St. According to the decision from Justice Paul S. Rouleau of the Ontario Court of Appeal, the developers were referred to Gibson after they decided to convert the apartments into condominiums. In a retainer letter dated April 30, 2002, Gibson estimated legal fees to be $50,000. Any extra work that came up requiring “special attention” would cause the total to change, the letter said. On Oct. 3, 2003, the developers received their final bill, which, including
interim bills already received, totalled $451,044.94. The fees were challenged by the developers at an assessment hearing in January 2007. Included in the developers’ case was a report by condominium and construction law expert Deborah Bellinger, who said the $50,000 estimate was a reasonable one for the fees typically charged for the services. An expert report filed by Gibson’s lawyers argued that the project included a number of unforeseen events that justified the increased legal fees. At the end of the seven-day assessment, the assessment officer reduced the amount of the total bill to $179,250.43. Gibson’s lawyers brought a motion to Superior Court opposing the assessment officer’s findings, arguing that the assessment officer exceeded his jurisdiction. The motion was dismissed. Gibson’s lawyers then appealed the order
from the motion judge. |