Simpson Thomas & Associates

In the recent case of CanPacific Engineering Inc. v. Alican Enterprise Inc., 2011 BCSC 680 the Supreme Court confirmed that the dismissal of a lawsuit is not a factor in determining whether a pre-trial formal offer should have been accepted. The above case involved a contractual dispute. CanPacific claimed damages for breach of contract alleging that Alican failed to produce the required number of can opener plastic parts using CanPacific’s prototype molds, failed to return the molds and manufacture a production mold, and failed to produce thousands of plastic parts using the production mold. Alican counterclaimed against CanPacific for the cost of modifications it made to CanPacific’s prototype molds. Following a 16 day trial the Court dismissed CanPacific’s claim for approximately $2,713,000 and allowed Alican’s counterclaim for $52,505.95.

Alican delivered an offer to settle that provided nothing to CanPacific. The offer required CanPacific to "walk away" from its damage claim and all of the costs it had incurred. Because of that, the Court found the offer was not one that ought reasonably to have been accepted by CanPacific and denied double costs to Alican.

Personal Injury Law Personal Injury Lawyers

Blog