Chris Kinnear Hunter

The plaintiff, Wiener Städtische Versicherung AG (VIG), a reinsurer, sought to recover funds from the defendant, Infrassure Ltd., a retrocessionaire, under a retrocession agreement.

VIG had paid its portion of a $140 million settlement to Zurich Insurance Company Ltd. (Zurich) for a business interruption claim by Vale (Canada) Limited.

Infrassure denied liability, arguing it was not contractually bound to follow the settlement and that Zurich failed to take proper and businesslike steps.

The court found that Infrassure was contractually bound by the "follow the settlements" clause and that Zurich had taken proper and businesslike steps in reaching the settlement.

Judgment was granted in favour of VIG for the settlement amount and loss adjustment costs, with the court denying VIG's claim for punitive damages.

The applicant and respondent, two brothers, were involved in an arbitration regarding the separation of their trucking businesses.

The arbitrator appointed an inspector to investigate the respondent's conduct and potential unequal benefits.

On this motion, the court affirmed the arbitrator's jurisdiction to appoint an inspector for parties to the arbitration agreement.

The court also appointed an investigative receiver to sell the business and investigate the respondent's transactions, including those involving a non-party, Motion Transport Ltd. The applicant's proposed receiver was appointed due to a potential conflict with the respondent's choice.

Class Counsel brought a motion for approval of a further instalment of fees in an ongoing competition law class action regarding alleged price-fixing in the foreign exchange market.

The plaintiffs had settled with fourteen groups of defendants and the action continued against the remaining non-settling defendants.

The court reviewed the risks undertaken, the results achieved, and the docketed time, finding the requested fees of $6,325,000, plus costs and disbursements, to be fair and reasonable.

The fee request was approved.

The plaintiffs in a class action regarding foreign exchange price fixing brought a motion to amend the Distribution Protocol for the $110 million settlement proceeds.

The proposed amendments included transferring unused funds from the Indirect Claims Fund to the Direct Claims Fund, setting a minimum $1,000 payout for approved Direct Claimants, and removing the requirement to consider compensation received in other jurisdictions.

The court granted the motion, finding the amendments were administrative, imposed no additional burden on the defendants, and fell within the court's broad discretion under section 12 of the Class Proceedings Act, 1992.

The court determined costs for contempt proceedings initiated by Atif Kamran against Dan Andersson and LEO Canada Inc. While Kamran succeeded in having Andersson found in contempt for some breaches, Andersson successfully purged his contempt and resisted many of Kamran's requested penalties.

The court found success was divided, and Kamran's approach to the penalty phase was overly aggressive.

No costs were awarded to LEO Canada Inc. or Geraldine Aquino.

The court awarded Atif Kamran $40,000 in all-inclusive costs from Dan Andersson, on a partial indemnity basis, and dismissed Andersson's cross-motion for costs.

The respondent was sexually assaulted by a priest when he was 11 years old.

The priest fondled and performed oral sex on the respondent on one occasion.

The respondent sued the Diocese for damages on the basis of vicarious liability.

After years of denying liability, the Diocese admitted liability on the first day of trial.

The only issue was damages.

The jury awarded general and aggravated damages of $250,000, loss of income of $280,000, treatment expenses of $5,000, and punitive damages of $15,000.

The Diocese appealed on multiple grounds.

The Court of Appeal upheld the damages awards but split on the punitive damages issue, with the majority upholding the award and the dissent setting it aside.

The self-represented plaintiffs brought three separate actions against two hospitals, seven physicians, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, alleging medical malpractice, falsification of records, breach of privacy, and improper regulatory investigations relating to psychiatric treatment provided between 2004 and 2012.

The defendants brought motions for summary judgment and motions to strike the claims.

The Superior Court of Justice granted the motions and dismissed all three actions.

The court found that the claims against the hospitals and physicians were statute-barred under the Limitations Act, 2002, as the plaintiffs had discovered the claims years before commencing the actions.

The court also held that the hospitals were not vicariously liable for the actions of independent physicians.

The claims against the College were struck because the College owes no private law duty of care to complainants, and the actions constituted an abuse of process by attempting a collateral attack on the statutory complaints and review process.

The defendant Atif Kamran brought a motion for security for costs against the plaintiff Dan Andersson, seeking $150,000.00 under Rule 56.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

Kamran argued Andersson was ordinarily resident outside Ontario and lacked sufficient assets in Ontario to satisfy a costs award.

Andersson conceded non-residency and solvency, but contended his shares in LEO Canada and LEO UK, a country with reciprocal judgment enforcement, constituted sufficient assets.

The court found Andersson's Ontario assets (LEO Canada shares) to be of uncertain value due to ongoing financial impropriety allegations.

While acknowledging the motion was not purely tactical and Andersson's case was not overwhelmingly strong, the court exercised its discretion to moderate the amount, considering Kamran's counterclaim and the reasonableness of anticipated legal work.

The motion was granted in part, ordering Andersson to post $50,000.00 in two installments.

This endorsement addresses the costs of a successful motion brought by defendant Atif Kamran to remove Siskinds LLP as counsel for plaintiffs Dan Andersson and LEO Canada Inc., and to compel document production.

The court awarded costs to Mr. Kamran, payable by Mr. Andersson alone, fixed at $17,000.00 on a partial indemnity basis.

The court declined to award substantial indemnity costs, finding no reprehensible conduct by Mr. Andersson and noting that the defendants' settlement offer was technically deficient and lacked clarity, thus not engaging the presumptive consequences of Rule 49.10.

The court also considered the broader context of the litigation and the inflammatory nature of some allegations made by Mr. Kamran.

The plaintiffs sought costs for undertakings and refusals motions brought against several defendants in a medical malpractice action.

The court awarded the plaintiffs $6,800 in costs against five defendant physicians who failed to answer undertakings until after the motion was served.

However, the court awarded costs of $3,257.64 to another defendant physician who was successful on the single refusal argued and had answered undertakings promptly.

No costs were awarded against two other defendants who resolved their issues prior to the hearing.

The plaintiffs in a class action alleging a price-fixing conspiracy in the foreign exchange market moved for approval of six settlements totaling $51.5 million.

The court reviewed the settlements in light of the estimated range of total damages, the litigation risks, and the value of the settling defendants' cooperation.

Finding the settlements to be fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the class, the court approved the settlements.

This class action involved two motions: approval of three settlements totaling $39.2 million in an FX market price-fixing conspiracy case, and approval of Class Counsel's fees and disbursements.

The court approved the settlements, finding them fair and reasonable given the litigation risks and the stage of the proceedings.

However, the court partially denied Class Counsel's request for $9.8 million in fees, approving only an additional $2 million, citing that the achieved recovery (5 cents on the dollar against a potential $1 billion loss) was respectable but not "very good," and that the claimed litigation risks were somewhat exaggerated given prior regulatory findings and U.S. settlements.

The court emphasized the need for diligence in approving contingency fees in settlements to ensure they are provident for class members, not just counsel.

The moving parties sought leave to appeal an order dismissing their motion for the appointment of an investigator under the Business Corporations Act.

They argued the motion judge erred by failing to determine if a prima facie case of oppressive conduct was established and by requiring them to prove oppression on the merits.

The court found the motion judge applied the correct test and that the proposed appeal did not involve matters of general or public importance.

The motion for leave to appeal was dismissed.