2016 QCCQ 12490, 2016 QCCQ 12490

O'Brien c. Kadafar Holdings Inc. 2016 QCCQ 12490 COURT OF QUEBEC Small Claim Division CANADA PROVINCE OF QUÉBEC DISTRICT OF MONTRÉAL Civil Division No: 500-32-148920-152 Date: November 7 th , 2016 BY THE HONOURABLE DIANE QUENNEVILLE, J.C.Q. CHARLES O’BRIEN Plaintiff v. KADAFAR HOLDINGS INC.

Defendant JUDGEMENT [ 1 ] JQ 0059 The Plaintiff Charles O’Brien, claims from the Defendant Kadafar Holdings Inc. $2,423.53 representing the professional fees rendered between May 15 th , 2014 and May 4 th , 2015 [1] . [ 2 ] The Plaintiff has, for several years, represented the Defendant most often in its disputes with Municipalité de la Paroisse de St- Lazare on environmental issues, a field in which the Plaintiff is specialized. [ 3 ] The Defendant is represented by Katarina Laczy. Ms.

Laczy claims that following a settlement concluded in 2008, in another matter, $16,000 would have been kept by the Plaintiff to cover future professional services. [ 4 ] The Court concludes on the contrary that, following the 2008 transaction [2] , the Plaintiff sent an invoice dated July 27, 2008 in which he indicates that the $16,500 represents fees and disbursements to be paid to him. [ 5 ] In fact, had the Defendant given a retainer of $16,000 to the Plaintiff, Ms.

Laczy would not have confirmed in an email dated January 22 nd , 2015 to the Plaintiff, in the present dispute with the Municipalité, that she was sending him a retainer. [ 6 ] A first invoice is sent on February 4, 2015 totalling $1,115.26 [3] . A second invoice is sent on April 30, 2015 [4] for $1,323.71, deduction made of the $300 received as a retainer. On May 5, 2015, a third invoice is sent [5] for $284.56, making a total owed by the Defendant of $2,423.53. [ 7 ] Throughout this period, the Defendant never complained about the fees. In fact, at the hearing, Ms.

Laczy confirms that she did not complain as she did not want the Plaintiff to cease representing the Defendant. [ 8 ] The Court is convinced that it is only when the Plaintiff informed the Defendant that he was ceasing representing it that the Defendant objected to the accounts for professional services rendered it had received. FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT: GRANTS Plaintiff’s action; CONDEMNS the Defendant Kadafar Holdings Inc. to pay to the Plaintiff Charles O’Brien, the sum of $2,423.53 with interest at the legal rate plus the additional indemnity provided at

article 1619 of the Civil Code of Québec as of July 22, 2015, the date of the demand letter [6] ;

WITH COST in the amount of $107 representing the judicial stamp of the Demand. Diane Quenneville, J.C.Q. Date of hearing: September 6 th , 2016