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Case information

Conduct a refined search of the Supreme Court of Canada database to obtain details on the status of a matter before the Court.


41412

Steven Yormak, et al. v. Francisco Calles

(Ontario) (Civil) (By Leave)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2025-04-23 Close file on Leave
2025-04-22 Correspondence (sent by the Court) to, RE: Certificate of Taxation
2025-04-22 Certificate of taxation issued to, Alfonso Campos Reales
2025-04-22 Decision on the bill of costs, in the amount of $1,022, Reg
2025-04-22 Submission of the bill of costs, Reg
2025-02-07 Bill of costs, UNDER REVIEW, Completed on: 2025-03-17 Francisco Calles
2025-01-16 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2025-01-16 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2025-01-16 Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Number COA-23-OM-0328, dated July 3, 2024, is dismissed with costs.
Dismissed, with costs
2024-12-02 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court
2024-10-15 Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Book Form), Missing:

- proof of service (Confirmed be respondent 11-20-2024), Completed on: 2024-11-20
Steven Yormak
2024-10-03 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A, (Printed version filed on 2024-10-08) Francisco Calles
2024-10-03 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2024-10-03, (Printed version filed on 2024-10-08) Francisco Calles
2024-09-03 Letter acknowledging receipt of an incomplete application for leave to appeal, FILE OPENED
2024-08-30 Certificate (on limitations to public access), 23B, (Printed version filed on 2024-09-10) Steven Yormak
2024-08-30 Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), 2 Volumes

Missing:

- Public access to info form
- Notice of Name, Completed on: 2024-12-04, (Printed version filed on 2024-09-10)
Steven Yormak

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
Steven Yormak Applicant Active
Yormak & Associates Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
Calles, Francisco Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Steven Yormak

This party is not represented by counsel.

Party: Yormak & Associates

This party is not represented by counsel.

Party: Calles, Francisco

Counsel
Alfonso Campos Reales
Lerners LLP
85 Dufferin Ave.
London, Ontario
N6A 1K3
Telephone: (519) 932-3362
Email: acamposreales@lerners.ca
Agent
Graham Ragan
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
2600-160 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 786-8699
FAX: (613) 563-9869
Email: graham.ragan@gowlingwlg.com

Summary

Keywords

Law of professions — Barristers and solicitors — Retainers — Contingency fee agreements — Applicant lawyer entering into contingency fee agreement with respondent client following motor vehicle accident — Contingency fee agreement providing for calculation of fees as percentage of past and future benefits obtained — Applicant lawyer successfully representing respondent in appeal of Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPPD) application — Retroactive CPPD benefits paid and entitlement to ongoing benefit established – Applicants retaining entirety of retroactive CPPD payment and seeking additional fees based on CPPD amounts respondent could receive in future — Respondent successfully applying to void contingency fee agreement — Whether there is “value” in lawyer’s services in obtaining future government benefits — Whether acceptable and reasonable for lawyer’s contingency fee agreements to be based on benefits obtained through lawyer’s services for both retroactive and ongoing future benefits — Whether contingency agreements benefit clients otherwise unable to afford lawyer’s services to pursue appeals of government denials of benefits — Solicitors Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S-15, ss. 16, 23-25, 28.1; Contingency Fee Agreements, O. Reg. 563/20

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

In 2018, Mr. Calles was injured in a motor vehicle accident. After his first attempts at obtaining benefits were unsuccessful, Mr. Calles entered into a contingency fee agreement with the applicants, lawyer Steven Yormak and law firm Yormak & Associates (collectively, “Yormak”). One of the terms of the agreement was that fees would be based on past and future benefits obtained.

Yormak successfully represented Mr. Calles in an appeal from the denial of his Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPPD) application. Retroactive CPPD benefits were paid, and entitlement to an ongoing pension was established.

Yormak retained the entire amount of Mr. Calles’ retroactive CPPD benefits, and informed him that he still owed more additional fees, based on future CPPD amounts that he could receive.

Mr. Calles terminated his relationship with Yormak and commenced an application to void the contingency fee agreement. The application was allowed. In a separate costs endorsement, Yormak was ordered to pay costs to Mr. Calles. Yormak brought a motion for leave to appeal the costs award only. The Court of Appeal dismissed the motion without reasons.

Lower court rulings

May 25, 2023
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

CV-22-00000632-0000

Supplementary costs endorsement; stay lifted, April 11, 2023 costs endorsement affirmed

July 3, 2024
Court of Appeal for Ontario

C0A-23-OM-0328

See File

Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filing out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Factums on appeal

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Webcasts

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Date modified: 2025-04-24