Langlois Kronström Desjardins recently successfully defended Concordia University in a $15 million action in damages launched against it by a former student who was expelled from the University for academic misconduct.

The claimant, a self-represented litigant, had launched an action in damages seeking compensation for his expulsion, as well as an application for judicial review of the University’s decision to expel him. On the advice and counsel of Langlois Kronström Desjardins, Concordia successfully moved for dismissal of the claim in judicial review on the ground that it was time barred.  The lower court’s judgment was confirmed by the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada refused to entertain claimant’s appeal.

In connection with claimant’s claim in damages, Concordia argued that the claimant had failed to inscribe his case in damages within the peremptory time limit set out in the Code of Civil Procedure and, therefore, that his case was deemed to have been discontinued by operation of law. The Superior Court followed Langlois Kronström Desjardins’s contentions and found  that no person, whether represented or unrepresented by counsel, is exempt from compliance with the rules of procedure, and that those who choose not to be represented must acknowledge the risks associated therewith and live with the consequences of that choice.

In a remarkable passage, the motion judge, in response to claimant’s allegations of bad faith on the part of Langlois Kronström Desjardins, set the record straight: “Plaintiff suggested to the Court, during argument on the present motion, that Defendant’s legal counsel have shown bad faith in their court proceedings and in their representations made at the management conferences presided over by the undersigned. This is simply untrue. Defendant counsel’s conduct in this case has been in good faith and has also been exemplary in sometimes difficult circumstances.”

Dimitri Maniatis and Rébecca St-Pierre are very pleased to have acted on behalf of Concordia University in this matter.