Christos Papadopoulos

The defendant, Jasper Construction Corp., brought a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff's claim for breach of contract.

The plaintiff, N.K.P. Painting Inc., had a subcontract with Jasper Construction Ltd., but alleged Jasper Construction Corp. was also liable as an undisclosed principal, alter ego, assignee, or by novation.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the factual issues regarding Jasper Construction Corp.'s liability were inextricably intertwined with the overall action against Jasper Construction Ltd. Granting partial summary judgment would not advance the goals of timeliness, affordability, and proportionality, and risked duplicative proceedings and inconsistent findings, especially given that both defendants shared counsel and key personnel.

The applicant, Ying Tsuen Tiao, brought an application to declare a fraudulent discharge of her first mortgage void and to rectify the land register by restoring her mortgage to its original first priority position.

The respondents, Dino Leone and Jeanette Leone, had fraudulently discharged the applicant's mortgage and subsequently registered new mortgages.

While the Director of Titles agreed to delete the fraudulent discharge, they argued the applicant's mortgage should be reinstated in a lower priority.

The court applied the theory of deferred indefeasibility, finding the Leones were fraudulent persons and the subsequent mortgagees were intermediate owners.

The court ordered the fraudulent discharge void and the applicant's mortgage restored to first priority, ahead of the subsequent mortgages.

The plaintiff brought a motion to amend its statement of claim to add three new defendants and a new cause of action for conspiracy to injure, nearly four years after the incident.

The defendants opposed, arguing the claims were statute-barred.

The court granted the motion, finding the plaintiff met the low evidentiary burden to show reasonable diligence in discovering the alleged conspiracy, which is secretive by nature.

The court also found the proposed pleading contained all necessary elements for a conspiracy claim.

The defendants were granted leave to plead a limitations defence.