Parties have duty to supervise counsel

Southwestern Sales Corporation Limited v. Spurr Bros. Ltd., 2016Southwestern Sales Corporation Limited v. Spurr Bros. Ltd., 2016 ONCA 590 ONCA 590:

[22]        As part of its obligation to move its construction lien actions along, the appellant was required to take reasonable steps to supervise its counsel's work to ensure there would be an expeditious determination of the actions on their merits. On a motion to set aside a dismissal order, one would expect a commercial plaintiff like the appellant to file concrete evidence describing the steps it had taken to supervise its counsel's handling of its actions. The appellant did not do so. Given the absence of such evidence, it is understandable the motion judge was not prepared to accept that the assertions of the appellant's controller amounted to an acceptable explanation for a 13-year delay.