North Burnaby’s legion is taking its former lawyer to court for his role in a real estate deal that went sour.
Royal Canadian Legion #148 is suing Anthony H.S. Knight and his firm, McMillan LLP. The legion hired Knight in 2012 to represent its interests during an exchange deal for it Hastings Street property with developer Epta Properties, according to the legion’s May 15 filing in B.C. Supreme Court.
None of the claims have been proven in court. Knight has yet to file a response and declined to comment when reached by the Now.
“Under the express or implied terms of the retainer, the defendants (Knight and McMIllan LLP) agreed to exercise the skill and diligence of a reasonably competent solicitor in carrying out the instructions of the plaintiff,” the filings read.
The deal, the legion claims, would have given the legion a four-storey section of the multi-use building Epta planned to build. Epta demolished the old legion hall but never replaced it with the planned building meant to include a new canteen, offices and rental space for the legion.
“It turned out we ended up turning the property over to Epta on an agreement that wasn’t worth the paper it was written on,” Branch 148 president Dave Taylor told the Now in 2017.
The legion’s lawsuit claims Knight failed to legally protect them in the deal signed with Epta.
The legion is seeking “damages, including special damages” from Knight and his firm but the court documents to not specify a dollar amount.
The legion sold the five-lot property between Rosser and Madison avenues to another developer, Beedie, in 2016. That deal came with its own controversy that opened a rift between Legion 148 and its overseeing body, B.C./Yukon Command.
Beedie now plans to build a five-storey multi-use building on the property, including a new bar on the ground floor that would be owned by Legion 148 with apartments in the floors above. The proposal will go to second reading at Burnaby city council on Monday.
