‘Reprehensible’: Judge excoriates Surrey land dispute litigants for wasting precious court time, failed disclosure

A B.C. Supreme Court judge had harsh words for some of the litigants involved in a Surrey and Langley land dispute that dragged on for 78 days of trial time.

The comments by Justice Gordon Funt were part of a ruling that was deciding on costs after the trial was concluded between plaintiff Shu Rong Zhang and defendants Cuiguo Lin and Ming Hu.

Zhang was awarded costs for part of the 78 days of trial, but not others as a dispute over one of the properties in question was settled on the last day of trial.

But costs were awarded for another section of the case involving land in Surrey, with the judge singling out Hu and Lin over their handling of the property as it was “relevant to the calculation of damages,” reads the court ruling.

Hu and Lin sold the property for nearly $29 million, but did not disclose the sale to anyone, the judge wrote, “even to their own counsel.”

“Mr. Lin and Mr. Hu each misled their own counsel, causing each of Mr. Xue and Mr. Ng to sign the Joint Statement of Agreed Facts which each of Mr. Lin and Mr. Hu would have known to be untrue,” the judge wrote. “Among other consequences, a great deal of court time was wasted.”

The judge awarded special costs for 21 days of the trial that covered the Surrey property, plus two days of legal argument.

“The failure to disclose by each of Mr. Lin and Mr. Hu was reprehensible by each of them,” the judge wrote.

The issue of time spent on this case was also addressed during the trial by the judge.

“This [78]-day trial addressing commercial disputes amongst the parties involving valuable real estate was unnecessarily long, and probably not necessary,” the judge said.

The judge said such cases take time away from important court matters, such as criminal and family court cases.

“Court time is also very much in demand,” the judge wrote. “In criminal cases, there are accused in custody awaiting trial. In family matters, there are often young children involved with questions such as parenting time to be determined.”