A Canadian court has reaffirmed that a lawyer does not have a duty of care to non-client parties with their own lawyer. In the case - Ramsarran v Assaly Asset Management Corporation - the judge struck out a claim against their opponent's lawyer and his firm. It is the latest case to reaffirm that lawyers do not have a duty to the other side when they are represented. 

Negligent misrepresentation alleged

The Ramsarrans had sued for $1 million over what they claimed was negligent misrepresentation in a transaction where they sold shares to Assaly Asset Management Corporation. In their claim they alleged that Brent Timmons has told their lawyer Paul Howard that part of the purchase was placed in a trust account, which proved to be untrue. This would have stopped them closing the sale had they known the money was not deposited, they claimed. The money, $109k, should have been help in trust until the Canadian Revenue Agency completed a tax liability assessment of the corporation but the Ramsarrans claimed they did not receive the money and went on to claim for damages against Mr Timmons and his law firm, saying the lawyer should be liable regardless of whether he did not tell the truth or made a mistake.

No duty of care to opponents

The judge found that Mr Timmons could not have a duty of care to the plaintiffs as they had their own lawyer and was representing the interests of his own client.  She found that Mr Timmons would have expected Mr Howard to advise the plaintiffs about the risk of closing the sale without independently verifying whether the trust account existed.