Amer Pasalic

The plaintiffs, Avante Automobile (2017) Corporation and Francesco Serpa, sought damages from BMW Canada Inc. for breach of statutory, contractual, and common law duties in relation to the purchase and operation of a BMW dealership.

The court found BMW Canada liable for failing to properly document an extension to complete required renovations and for not following the termination provisions of the Retailer Agreement.

However, the court preferred the defendant’s evidence on valuation and found no net recoverable damages.

The action was dismissed, subject to costs.

This motion, brought by the defendant Servisair Inc., sought various relief including dismissal of the action, but primarily focused on costs arising from the plaintiff's outstanding undertakings and failure to attend a mandatory mediation.

The court fixed costs thrown away for the aborted mediation and costs of the motion, both on a partial indemnity basis, payable by the plaintiff to Servisair Inc.

Following a 23-day trial that originated as a contested passing of accounts, the unsuccessful plaintiff was ordered to pay costs.

The defendants sought substantial or full indemnity costs based on unproven allegations of breach of trust and unaccepted offers to settle.

The court declined to award elevated costs, finding the allegations did not amount to fraud and the plaintiff was entitled to a trial.

The court fixed partial indemnity costs, significantly reducing claims for travel expenses, expert fees, and excessive trial preparation time, ultimately ordering the plaintiff to pay a total of $721,450 in costs to the various defendants.

The plaintiff, a residual beneficiary of her father's estate, brought an action against the estate trustee, the estate's lawyers and accountants, and the purchasers of the deceased's shares in a family business.

The plaintiff alleged that the estate trustee breached her fiduciary duty by selling the shares without authorization and at an undervalue, and raised numerous objections on the passing of accounts.

The court found that the will authorized the sale of the shares, the estate trustee acted reasonably, and the shares were sold for fair market value.

The claims against all defendants were dismissed.

On the passing of accounts, the court fixed the estate trustee's compensation but reduced it to account for legal and accounting fees that were properly characterized as executor's work.

The plaintiff brought a summary judgment motion arising from a settlement agreement containing non‑solicitation covenants and a liquidated damages clause.

The defendants admitted soliciting a number of the plaintiff’s customers in breach of the agreement after payments under the settlement concluded.

The court drew an adverse inference from the defendants’ refusal to provide database information requested in cross‑examination and inferred additional solicitations.

Applying the contractual liquidated damages clause of $1,000 per wrongfully solicited customer, the court assessed liability for 227 breaches.

Punitive damages were also awarded due to deliberate, profit‑motivated and bad‑faith conduct undermining the purpose of the agreement.