A cybersecurity firm that sued Advocis, Advocis Broker Services Inc. (ABS) and a member of Advocis’ executive management team in February for breach of contract has filed a defence denying all counterclaim allegations and describing service complaints as “a construct.” The firm also maintains its allegation that Advocis was motivated to end the contract as part of the association’s cost-cutting efforts.
Burlington, Ont.–based Net-Patrol International Inc. filed its reply and defence to Advocis’ counterclaim in August with the Toronto Superior Court of Justice.
“Advocis’ claim that Net-Patrol’s services were deficient or the fees charged excessive are without merit and raised as part of Advocis’ strategy to avoid or reduce its financial obligations,” the reply and defence to counterclaim states. “Net-Patrol pleads that Advocis received the services and deliverables for which it contracted at the price … it agreed to pay.”
In an emailed statement, Advocis said it “disputes the allegations” in Net-Patrol’s reply and defence and will be delivering a reply setting out its response in further detail.
Legal counsel for Net-Patrol said in an email that the cybersecurity firm would “not be commenting further at this time.”
Net-Patrol’s reply and defence lists some of its services to Advocis, which included “investigative services” regarding “a disgruntled former employee who had been threatening harm to Advocis’ employees” and also “residual forensic work.”
According to court filings, Net-Patrol initially provided Advocis with forensic analysis and investigation services beginning in September 2023 — the same month longtime Advocis CEO Greg Pollock was ousted and interim CEO Harris Jones was appointed and tasked with addressing the association’s troubled finances.
Net-Patrol and Advocis eventually entered into a formal contract for risk management and cybersecurity services, which Advocis terminated after appointing CEO Kelly Gorman last fall, according to court filings.
Net-Patrol’s breach-of-contract claim against Advocis and ABS filed earlier this year seeks more than $560,000, and includes related claims against Geoff Le Quelenec, vice-president of technology and innovation with Advocis, and his corporation Jacobs L P Inc., seeking the same amount. Net-Patrol’s claim also asks for damages of $200,000 from the defendants, and legal costs.
Advocis denies all allegations in a statement of defence filed in April, making its counterclaim against Net-Patrol for breach of contract and unjust enrichment, and asking for nearly $185,000 in damages. Advocis’ statement of defence also denies any liability or wrongdoing on the part of Le Quelenec and his corporation.
Le Quelenec did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the reply and defence to counterclaim, Net-Patrol pleads that the contract’s terms and meaning are clear, and alleges that Advocis seeks to rewrite the contract.
Advocis’ “new management team is dissatisfied with the bargain” that its former management made, and “is improperly seeking to reduce Advocis’ financial commitments,” the reply and defence to counterclaim states.
Net-Patrol also claims it “made efforts to discuss the cybersecurity agreement with [Gorman] but was repeatedly rebuffed,” the reply and defence to counterclaim states.
That specific claim is “false,” Advocis said in its emailed statement. “Given that this matter is before the courts, Advocis does not intend to comment any further,” the statement said.
Net-Patrol asks the court to disregard Advocis’ defence, dismiss the counterclaim and award it the amount it seeks. Advocis, ABS and Le Quelenec and his corporation ask in the defence and counterclaim for the action to be dismissed with costs on a full indemnity basis.
Five legal claims
In less than two years, Advocis has faced five legal claims as it restructured and cut expenses after operating at a deficit in 2022 and 2023. Pollock sued for wrongful dismissal in December 2023; the dispute was settled in November 2024, along with a claim of wrongful dismissal from former chief operating officer Julie Martini.
Huntsville, Ont.–based SeeWhy Financial Learning Inc. filed a suit against the association in February — just days after Net-Patrol — alleging breach of contract. The case is ongoing, with SeeWhy seeking punitive damages of $250,000 or an amount set by the court. Advocis filed a defence and counterclaim in July alleging it was overcharged. Advocis settled a similar case with SeeWhy in 2024 for nearly $100,000 for non-payment of SeeWhy’s learning materials.
Also, Advocis informed members in February of a human rights complaint filed that month by a laid-off former employee.
While the Net-Patrol and SeeWhy claims are ongoing, one of the notes to Advocis’ 2024 financial statements, released over the summer, says the association faces three “known or possible legal claims.”
The third possible claim “has been resolved,” Advocis said in an email.
The note in the financial statements said, “The exposure to [the three legal] claims, beyond the accrued cost of $141,000, where the outcome is considered not determinable is [$1.36 million],” with no allowance made for the counterclaims.
Advocis posted a consolidated surplus of $1.8 million in 2024, following deficits of $766,426 and $2.7 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively. The surplus was largely achieved by cost cutting, including staff cuts. ABS, Advocis’ for-profit subsidiary, had a loss of more than $68,000.