Tellini v. Bell Alliance, 2022 BCCA 106

In Tellini v. Bell Alliance, 2022 BCCA 106, Craig Dennis, K.C. and Ray Power were successful for the appellants in overturning a trial decision which found the appellants liable in negligence for the plaintiff’s (respondent’s) inability to take advantage of a Foreign Buyer’s Tax refund regime.  That refund regime was announced in March 2017, subsequent to the time of the alleged negligence. The Court of Appeal accepted the argument that the trial judge had erred in failing to consider that the alleged negligent advice was not the legal or proximate cause of the plaintiff’s loss (that loss being the lost opportunity to access the refund regime).

This case serves as helpful clarification of the appropriate approach to questions of legal causation, following on the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in Nelson (City) v. Marchi, 2021 SCC 41.