A Master had granted Summary Judgment for the legal fees following a dispute of an account. Ms. Sabourin had successfully appealed to the Chambers Judge, and P & C Lawfirm Management then appealed to the Court of Appeal.

At issue in the Appeal was whether this matter was appropriate for Summary Judgment pursuant to Rule 7.3. The Court referred to the governing principles as set out in Weir-Jones Technical Services Incorporated v Purolator Courier Ltd., 2019 ABCA 49. The Court of Appeal found that although the Chambers Judge referenced this same case, that it was not applied correctly and, as such, improperly allowed the Appeal. Namely, the Court of Appeal found that it was possible to fairly resolve the dispute on the record. The Chambers Judge erroneously found that the assertions of Ms. Sabourin raised some issues of fairness, but the Court of Appeal noted that the bare assertions of Ms. Sabourin were contrary and wholly unsupported by the other evidence.

The Appeal was allowed in part, and Summary Judgment for three of the four accounts was awarded to the law firm. The Court of Appeal referred the matter to Masters Chambers to conduct an inquiry and determine the quantum of the award, pursuant to Rules 6.44(a), 6.45, and 6.46.