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City ordered to pay $181K, not $191K, in cellblock abuse case legal fees

An Ontario Superior Court Justice has ordered the City of Ottawa to pay Roxanne Carr's lawyer $10,000 less than the $191,000 his firm originally billed.

Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon's firm originally billed $191K for 9-day trial last July

CBC News ·
Roxanne Carr, top left, was awarded $255,000 by the City of Ottawa in 2017 for wrongful arrest and imprisonment by Ottawa police. (CBC Archives)

An Ontario Superior Court Justice has ordered the City of Ottawa to pay Roxanne Carr's lawyer $10,000 less than the $191,000 his firm originally billed.

Justice Sylvia Corthorn made the ruling Thursday, after the city fought in court earlier this week to have the bill reduced.

In 2017, Carr was awarded $255,000 plus interest for being wrongfully arrested and jailed by police in 2008. But more than a year after that ruling, her lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, still hadn't been paid by the city.

The city disputed the legal fees from Carr's nine-day civil trial in July 2017, claiming his firm overcharged by $56,500.

City of Ottawa lawyer Geoffrey Cantello did not fight the amount awarded to Carr, but argued in court that Greenspon's rate was too high and questioned why two lawyers needed to be by Carr's side during her deposition.

Greenspon said it was ridiculous his firm was taken to court over the legal fees in the first place. With interest tacked onto the bill from more than a year ago, the final cost would have been well over $191,000, he said.