Case information
Conduct a refined search of the Supreme Court of Canada database to obtain details on the status of a matter before the Court.
32586
Michael Z. Galambos, et al. v. Estela Perez
(British Columbia) (Civil) (By Leave)
Docket
Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.
| Date | Proceeding | Filed By (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|
| 2009-10-27 | Appeal closed | |
| 2009-10-26 | Formal judgment sent to the registrar of the court of appeal and all parties | |
| 2009-10-26 | Judgment on appeal and notice of deposit of judgment sent to all parties | |
| 2009-10-23 |
Judgment on the appeal rendered, CJ Bi LeB De F Abe Cha Ro Cro, The appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver), Number CA034213, 2008 BCCA 91, dated February 27, 2008, heard on April 15, 2009, is allowed and the trial judgment is restored. If the parties cannot otherwise agree, the question whether a judgment in debt should issue against the Michael Z. Galambos Law Corporation and, if so, whether there are any costs consequences at trial or on appeal in the Court of Appeal flowing from that judgment, is remanded to the Court of Appeal. Subject to an adjustment resulting from an agreement between the parties or from a judgment on remand, costs throughout are awarded to the appellants if demanded. Allowed, with costs |
|
| 2009-05-04 | Transcript received, (52 pages) | |
| 2009-04-15 | Judgment reserved OR rendered with reasons to follow | |
| 2009-04-15 |
Hearing of the appeal, 2009-04-15, CJ Bi LeB De F Abe Cha Ro Cro Judgment reserved |
|
| 2009-04-15 | Respondent's condensed book, Rec'd in Court April 15/09 | Estela Perez |
| 2009-04-15 | Appellant's condensed book, Rec'd in Court April 15/09 | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2009-04-07 | Acknowledgement and consent for video taping of proceedings, All parties consented | |
| 2009-04-07 | Notice of appearance, George K. Macintosh Q.C. and Tim Dickson will be appearing for the appellants | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2009-03-30 | Reply factum on appeal, Rule 29(4) - CD and form rec'd Apr. 7/09, Completed on: 2009-04-08 | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2009-03-23 | Notice of appearance, Robert Holmes and John Bilawich will be present at the hearing. | Estela Perez |
| 2009-03-17 | Respondent's book of authorities, (3 volumes), Completed on: 2009-03-17 | Estela Perez |
| 2009-03-17 | Respondent's record, Completed on: 2009-03-17 | Estela Perez |
| 2009-03-17 | Respondent's factum, Rule 29(3) - Electronic redacted version for Webcast filed on March 25, 2009, Completed on: 2009-03-17 | Estela Perez |
| 2009-03-02 | Notice of hearing sent to parties | |
| 2009-03-02 |
Appeal hearing scheduled, 2009-04-15 Judgment reserved |
|
| 2009-02-06 | Appellant's book of authorities, Completed on: 2009-02-06 | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2009-02-06 | Appellant's record, (3 volumes), Completed on: 2009-02-06 | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2009-02-06 | Appellant's factum, Completed on: 2009-02-06 | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2008-12-12 | Appeal perfected for hearing | |
| 2008-10-31 | Notice of appeal, Completed on: 2008-10-31 | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2008-10-29 | Letter advising the parties of tentative hearing date and filing deadlines (Leave granted) | |
| 2008-10-24 | Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties | |
| 2008-10-24 | Judgment on leave sent to the parties | |
| 2008-10-23 |
Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver), Number CA034213 2008 BCCA 91, dated February 27, 2008, is granted with costs to the applicants in any event of the cause. Granted, with costs to the applicant(s) in any event of the cause |
|
| 2008-10-16 | Correspondence received from, Mr. Bilawich dated Oct. 09/08 re: filing draft order and reasons (corrections will be made) | Estela Perez |
| 2008-08-25 | All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, Bi De Abe | |
| 2008-08-14 | Correspondence received from, Mr. Van Bemmel by email dated Aug-14-08 re: court of appeal order not settled | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2008-06-06 | Book of authorities | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2008-06-02 | Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, 1 copy missing - Rec'd on June 12, 2008, Completed on: 2008-06-12 | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2008-05-28 | Correspondence received from, Court of appeal order form, substance of the appeal (estimated for June-14-08) | Michael Z. Galambos |
| 2008-05-26 | Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, Completed on: 2008-05-26 | Estela Perez |
| 2008-05-02 | Letter acknowledging receipt of an incomplete application for leave to appeal and without formal Court of Appeal order | |
| 2008-04-28 | Application for leave to appeal, court of Appeal order missing (Draft rec'd Aug-22-08)--REVISED DRAFT ORDER AND REASONS filed Oct.16/0, Completed on: 2008-08-26 | Michael Z. Galambos |
Parties
Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.
Main parties
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Galambos, Michael Z. | Appellant | Active |
| Michael Z. Galambos Law Corporation, both carrying on business as "Galambos & Company" and the said Galambos & Company | Appellant | Active |
v.
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Perez, Estela | Respondent | Active |
Counsel
Party: Galambos, Michael Z.
Counsel
Tim Dickson
P.O. Box 10026, Pacific Centre
Suite 2500, 700 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V7Y 1B3
Telephone: (604) 661-9332
FAX: (604) 661-9349
Email: gmacintosh@farris.com
Agent
2600 - 160 Elgin St
P.O. Box 466, Stn "D"
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 233-1781
FAX: (613) 788-3433
Email: henry.brown@gowlings.com
Party: Michael Z. Galambos Law Corporation, both carrying on business as "Galambos & Company" and the said Galambos & Company
Counsel
Tim Dickson
P.O. Box 10026, Pacific Centre
Suite 2500, 700 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V7Y 1B3
Telephone: (604) 661-9332
FAX: (604) 661-9349
Email: gmacintosh@farris.com
Agent
2600 - 160 Elgin St
P.O. Box 466, Stn "D"
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 233-1781
FAX: (613) 788-3433
Email: henry.brown@gowlings.com
Party: Perez, Estela
Counsel
John W. Bilawich
1300 - 1111 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6E 4M3
Telephone: (604) 681-1310
FAX: (604) 681-1307
Email: rdholmes@mhklaw.com
Agent
1500 - 50 O'Connor St.
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 6L2
Telephone: (613) 231-8276
FAX: (613) 788-3681
Summary
Keywords
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Summary
Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.
Law of professions - Barristers and solicitors - Fiduciary duty - Whether a lawyer is in a fiduciary relationship with an employee when there is no mutual understanding that the lawyer will only act in the employee’s best interests and, where any power imbalance between the parties is occasioned by the existence of an employment relationship, the lawyer’s greater knowledge and the employee’s admiration for the lawyer.
Estela Perez, a bookkeeper and sometime client of lawyer, Michael Galambos, loaned without security some $200,000 to the law practice of Mr. Galambos. In 2004, Mr. Galambos assigned himself into bankruptcy and his law corporation went into receivership. In the bankruptcy proceedings, secured creditors received all funds realized from the winding-up of the practice and Ms. Perez did not recover anything. Subsequently, Ms. Perez brought an action against Mr. Galambos in negligence, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed Ms. Perez’s action on the ground that she had not established the causes of action pleaded. The British Columbia Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding the requirements for establishing a fiduciary duty had been met and entering judgment in the amount of $200,000.
Lower court rulings
Supreme Court of British Columbia
2006 BCSC 899, S046696
Respondent's action in negligence, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, dismissed.
Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver)
CA034213 2008 BCCA 91
Respondent’s appeal, allowed.
Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal
The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filing out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.
If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.
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Related links
Factums on appeal
The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.
If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.
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