Carmen A. De Facendis

The plaintiff, an Ontario wine agent, brought an action against the defendant, a New York-based wine distributor, for damages in lieu of reasonable notice following the unilateral termination of their 15-year unwritten agency relationship.

The defendant terminated the relationship without notice to consolidate its Canadian distribution with a single new agent.

The court found that the distributorship agreement was terminable only upon reasonable notice, rejecting the defendant's argument that no notice was required.

The court determined that a 15-month notice period was appropriate, considering the plaintiff's significant efforts in building the brand in Ontario, and awarded damages based on lost commissions and unpaid invoices.

At a family law case conference, the applicant wife sought orders for financial disclosure and costs.

The respondent husband had delayed providing complete financial disclosure for over two years and provided an Estimate Valuation Report instead of a Comprehensive Valuation Report.

The court ordered the husband to pay $60,000 for the wife's expert disbursements, $20,000 for expenses incurred due to delayed disclosure, and $10,000 for the costs of the unproductive case conference.