R & S Transportation

Peter A. Simm was co-counsel for the successful Moving Party for Summary Judgment (Plaintiff; Defendant by Counterclaim) and later the successful Respondent on appeal in R & S Transportation Inc. (2002, Ont. Sup. Ct.; aff’d 2003 Ont. C.A.).

Simm’s client sued for $600K for unpaid trucking services, but the Defendant counterclaimed for an even larger amount for alleged service failures. The SJ Motion strategically averted a lengthy trial that would have examined hundreds of deliveries.

The Moving Party met the difficult burden of showing there was no genuine issue of fact requiring trial of its Claim or the Counterclaim. Simm’s legal analysis enabled the Moving Party to sidestep factual disputes about service failures, yet still win on all points of law (contractual and statutory interpretation).

The Defendant (Responding Party) tried to thwart summary judgment by raising credibility issues. However, the argument crafted by Simm used the transcript of examination for discovery of the key defence witness (conducted by Simm) to show that no such issues were genuine. The Motions Judge and the Court of Appeal agreed.

This case is reported in two hardcover law reports, and is cited in a leading textbook on motor carrier cargo claims.

Full cite: R & S Transportation Inc. v. 1150726 Ontario Inc. (c.o.b. MacJac Logistics),  2002 CanLII 6152, 30 B.L.R. (3d) 94, [2002] O.T.C. 850, 2002 CarswellOnt 3697, [2002] O.J. No. 4234 (Ont. Sup. Ct.); affirmed, 2003 CanLII 4827, 172 O.A.C. 196, 2003 CarswellOnt 1304, [2003] O.J. No. 1194 (Ont. C.A.). (Co-counsel with C. Chop).