Hi All,
My trial finished in late Spring and I was awarded sole custody of my kids and primary residency. Their Mother's custody has been reduced from joint to myself having sole and access has been reduced to one night per week and every other weekend from every other full week in previous.
We made a fair costs submission to her side (she is on legal aid) and they rejected it. We then filed officially with the courts for costs. We just received their reply and they are asking for me to pay HER costs despite the fact that we won the case & proved our point fairly successfully. I've been dragged through court on and off for 7 years by someone who has relied on the fact that she has used legal aid like her personal piggy bank. She's constantly defied orders, changed lawyers and never followed the previous judge's orders throughout the process. Her lawyer even went so far to provide a cost analysis of the breakdown of her costs showing what was her reduced billed fee (she never says her client is on legal aid) vs what she would normally have charged. I've never heard of this or seen this in my life. I'm actually shocked. Is this just a last ditch attempt? Has anyone ever heard of this? It seems to me her lawyer is relying on the fact that we didn't get everything we requested of the judge therefore we were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, our offer to her was almost EXACTLY what the judge's final outcome was and again, there was a huge shift in custody and access alongside other major orders we've been asking for for year.
Would love some input here from those who've walked this out and/or any lawyers on this forum. Thx!
My trial finished in late Spring and I was awarded sole custody of my kids and primary residency. Their Mother's custody has been reduced from joint to myself having sole and access has been reduced to one night per week and every other weekend from every other full week in previous.
We made a fair costs submission to her side (she is on legal aid) and they rejected it. We then filed officially with the courts for costs. We just received their reply and they are asking for me to pay HER costs despite the fact that we won the case & proved our point fairly successfully. I've been dragged through court on and off for 7 years by someone who has relied on the fact that she has used legal aid like her personal piggy bank. She's constantly defied orders, changed lawyers and never followed the previous judge's orders throughout the process. Her lawyer even went so far to provide a cost analysis of the breakdown of her costs showing what was her reduced billed fee (she never says her client is on legal aid) vs what she would normally have charged. I've never heard of this or seen this in my life. I'm actually shocked. Is this just a last ditch attempt? Has anyone ever heard of this? It seems to me her lawyer is relying on the fact that we didn't get everything we requested of the judge therefore we were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, our offer to her was almost EXACTLY what the judge's final outcome was and again, there was a huge shift in custody and access alongside other major orders we've been asking for for year.
Would love some input here from those who've walked this out and/or any lawyers on this forum. Thx!
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