Chantelle Teresa Marie Cseh

The plaintiff in two proposed class actions alleging a price-fixing conspiracy in the canned tuna industry brought a motion for approval of a third-party litigation funding agreement.

The plaintiff could not bear the financial burden of funding the required expert evidence.

After extensive negotiations and due diligence, the plaintiff entered into an agreement with Lake Whillans Fund.

The court applied the four-factor test for approving third-party funding agreements and found the agreement to be necessary for access to justice, fair, reasonable, and protective of the defendants' interests.

The motion to approve the funding agreement was granted.

Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission brought a motion to adduce an expert report at an upcoming merits hearing regarding alleged misleading statements and fraud by the respondents in relation to a solar energy investment fund.

The respondents objected to the report's admissibility.

The Commission first determined that it was appropriate to decide the admissibility issue at a preliminary stage before the merits hearing, applying the Mega-C test.

On the merits of the admissibility, the Commission held that the expert's opinions on solar industry norms were rendered irrelevant by the respondents' undertaking not to lead evidence or make submissions on those points.

The expert's opinion on the reasonable expectations of investors was deemed unnecessary as it fell within the Commission's own expertise.

Consequently, the expert report was ruled inadmissible.

The plaintiffs, trustees of a pension fund, commenced a class action in Ontario and a similar one in Federal Court.

Settlements were reached with some defendants in the Federal Court action.

The plaintiffs sought court approval to discontinue the Ontario action, with prejudice and without costs, in favour of the Federal Court proceedings.

The court granted the motion, finding no prejudice to putative class members as their claims would continue in the Federal Court, and that discontinuing the Ontario action would avoid a multiplicity of proceedings.

The Monitor of a CCAA-protected company appealed a motion judge's decision dismissing its motion to disallow a creditor's claim secured by a guarantee.

The creditor, Speedy Electrical Contractors Ltd., had provided a personal loan and performed electrical work for Urbancorp entities.

When Speedy threatened legal proceedings and held a construction lien, the parties entered into a debt extension agreement whereby Speedy agreed to discharge its lien and extend the loan in exchange for a secured guarantee from King Residential Inc. (a related Urbancorp entity) over condominium units.

The Monitor argued the guarantee was a transfer at undervalue under section 96 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and a fraudulent conveyance under the Fraudulent Conveyances Act.

The motion judge found Speedy and KRI were dealing at arm's length and that fraudulent intent was not established.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, upholding the motion judge's findings.

The moving parties sought a stay of a Court of Appeal order pending their application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The underlying dispute concerned whether estate files related to the estates of Bernard Sherman and Honey Sherman should remain sealed.

The application judge had ordered the files sealed for two years to protect privacy and safety interests.

The Court of Appeal reversed this order, finding that privacy interests were not properly considered at the first stage of the Sierra Club test and that any risk of harm was speculative.

The motion judge granted the stay, finding that the moving parties had met the test under section 65.1(2) of the Supreme Court Act and that all three factors for a stay were satisfied: a serious question to be determined, irreparable harm if the stay were refused, and a balance of convenience favouring the stay.

The plaintiffs brought a motion for judicial approval of 13 discrete auto part class action settlements with the HIAMS, Mitsuba, NGK, and Sumitomo Riko defendants, totaling approximately $14.8 million.

The court found that each of the proposed settlements fell within a zone of reasonableness, noting that the Canadian settlement amounts were proportionate to related American settlements.

The court also approved class counsel's request for a 25 percent contingency fee, plus disbursements and taxes, finding it presumptively valid.

The appellant appealed an order sealing court files relating to the estates of Bernard and Honey Sherman, who were murdered in December 2017.

The motion judge had granted sealing orders ex parte, citing the need to protect the privacy and dignity of the victims and their loved ones, as well as concerns about the personal safety of estate beneficiaries and administrators.

The Court of Appeal set aside the sealing orders, finding that the respondents failed to meet the necessity threshold required for sealing orders.

The court held that personal privacy concerns alone cannot justify sealing, and that the evidence of risk to beneficiaries and administrators was speculative rather than based on concrete facts.

The plaintiffs in a proposed class action alleging a price-fixing conspiracy regarding packaged bread sought court approval of a third-party litigation funding agreement with Bentham.

The defendants largely did not object, except regarding a clause allowing Bentham to satisfy any security for costs order via an undertaking rather than paying into court.

The court found the funding agreement necessary for access to justice, fair and reasonable to the class, and approved the agreement, including the provision allowing an undertaking for security for costs.