In a medical malpractice action for 3 and a half years, can a lawyer be found to have failed to take substantive steps in the action?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Law Society of British Columbia v Hossack, 2021 LSBC 54 (CanLII):
In Law Society of BC v. Simons, 2012 LSBC 23, the lawyer failed to take substantive steps in the client’s medical malpractice action for three and a half years. He failed to respond substantively to communications from the client. He also failed to inform the client (the plaintiff in the action) of an application to dismiss for want of prosecution until after the application had been granted, with costs in favour of the defendants. The lawyer was found to have misled the client and to have failed to provide her with the expected quality of service. The lawyer was suspended for one month.
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