By Jason Botelho, Associate
I hear these words almost daily. People get so caught up in emotion that they do not care what the cost consequences of pursuing a claim are. Instead they are bent on achieving their own sense of justice. When I hear those infamous words I am brought back to my first day of law school where my professor warned the entire class to “beware of the client who wants to sue based on principle”. You see, no matter what a client says about principle it almost ALWAYS comes back to the money. I have seen cases where the amount spent on legal fees exceeds the amount being claimed! This is especially evident in Small Claims Court where emotions run extremely high.
Litigation is not a cake walk. It is a slow moving machine that, once started, cannot be stopped with a flick of a switch. It is a multi-party process that no one party has full control over. It is for this reason that the system (see the Rules of Civil Procedure) allows the parties multiple opportunities for settlement.
Make no mistake, litigation is expensive. It is usually charged based on an hourly rate multiplied by time spent. First there is the pleadings stage, (i.e. Statement of Claim, Statement of Defence, Reply). These are then usually followed by Discoveries, then pre-trial conferences, then trial. While the Rules do provide some expedience for claims under a certain monetary amount, it still takes time to go through these steps. And remember time equals money!
Invariably, it can be months or years before a resolution is achieved and there is no guarantee that it will be the result you are expecting. What is certain however is that it took a great deal of money spent to get there.
Now, there may be legitimate reasons to commence an action i.e., breach of contract, negligence, etc. Regardless, in most cases it is worth balancing the costs of proceeding with a claim with the amount being sought. I always advise my clients to do this from the outset. This way they can fully judge for themselves whether the “principle” is worth it.
So, the next time you hear someone say, “it is not the money it’s the principle!”, be a friend and explain this process to them. Maybe the money saved could be used to treat you out for dinner or a drink.