The Applicant, acting as the personal representative of an estate, entered into a retainer agreement with a law firm to pursue legal action against an individual for business misconduct. A dispute arose after the law firm billed the Applicant, leading to a Review of the charges under Rule 10.13. A Review Officer conducted the Review and upheld the fees. The Applicant then appealed the Decision, challenging both the Review Officer’s findings and the procedural fairness of the Review process.

The Court, citing Betser-Zilevitch v Prowse Chowne LLP, 2021 ABCA 129, noted that under Rule 10.2, the Review Officer has broad discretion to assess the reasonableness of fees, considering factors such as the retainer agreement, the surrounding circumstances, the hours worked, the settlement achieved, time recorded, the result obtained, and any other relevant factor. After reviewing the Review Officer’s authority under Rules 10.10, 10.17, and 10.19, the Court found that the Review Officer had correctly applied the law and made appropriate factual findings. The Review Officer properly evaluated the fees based on the retainer agreement and the detailed invoices provided.

However, the Court did identify a procedural fairness issue, as the Review Officer made a Decision before the Applicant had the opportunity to fully present her concerns regarding the billing. Despite this, the Court upheld the Review Officer’s Decision, concluding that the fees were reasonable and justified by the services rendered. The Appeal was dismissed.