Court Costs – An Often Overlooked Part Of Litigation

In the recent Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta decisions of Weatherford Canada Partnership v. Addie, 2018 ABQB 571 and Remington v Crystal Creek Homes Inc, 2018 ABQB 644, the Court addressed how costs should be calculated following litigation. Although court costs are awarded at the end of court applications or trials and are almost always awarded in favour of the successful party, they should not be considered an afterthought. Determining court costs ought to be an important consideration for litigants and their counsel, and counsel can often take steps to significantly increase potential recovery and decrease potential exposure to awards of court costs. This post will address what court costs are, the ways they can be awarded, and steps that can be taken to address them.