Ben Hanuka

The plaintiff real estate brokerage sued the defendants for a $250,000 commission under a Buyer Representation Agreement (BRA) after the defendants purchased a commercial property.

The sole issue at trial was whether the defendant signed a specific initial on the BRA extending its term to one year, which would cover the date of the purchase.

Both parties called forensic document examiners to testify on the authenticity of the initial.

The court found the plaintiff's expert more reliable and concluded on a balance of probabilities that the defendant did sign the initial.

The plaintiff was awarded the $250,000 commission.

The applicants, a franchisor, brought an application to compel a corporate franchisee and its individual principal and his wife to submit to arbitration, and to appoint an arbitrator.

The court held that it had jurisdiction to determine whether the individuals were bound by the arbitration agreement, as the issue required only superficial consideration of the documentary evidence.

The court found that the individuals were not parties to the franchise agreement and therefore could not be compelled to arbitrate.

The court appointed the applicants' proposed arbitrator to arbitrate the dispute between the franchisor and the corporate franchisee.

The applicant client brought an application under the Solicitors Act to refer the accounts of his former solicitor for assessment.

The solicitor argued the accounts were final and out of time.

The court found the accounts were interim, as they were rendered during a single litigation matter to an unsophisticated client.

The court also found special circumstances existed to warrant assessment, noting the solicitor charged over $15,000 while only advancing the case to a statement of defence and appearing to pursue unnecessary steps against the client's wishes.

The accounts were referred for assessment.