2006 April 26

Regina School Division No. 4 v. Hall et al, 2006 SKQB 202, varied 2007 SKCA 1323

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench struck out a counterclaim against the plaintiff School Board’s law firm in an action in which the Board alleged it was defamed by two emails and an article on an internet website. The counterclaim complained, among other things, about two letters from the law firm demanding compliance with the Board’s request for a cessation of communication and promising court action otherwise, for commencing this lawsuit, and for causing a report of the filing of the lawsuit to be published in two newspapers. The Court concluded that the law firm was named in the counterclaim “only because the law firm is doing its job as counsel for the Board” and that “the counterclaim against the law firm is intended to annoy or embarrass the Board, and is advanced with the ulterior motive of removing the law firm as counsel for the Board.”