Colin P. Stevenson

The appellant vendor appealed a summary judgment that granted specific performance to purchasers of three townhomes and dismissed the vendor's motion for forfeiture of deposits.

The transactions failed to close on the scheduled date due to delayed mortgage funds.

The motion judge found the vendor in anticipatory breach for prematurely terminating the Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS), ruling that the "time is of the essence" clause did not impose a specific closing time and that the vendor acted unreasonably.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's decision, finding no error in the interpretation of the "time is of the essence" clause or the finding of anticipatory breach and bad faith.

The Court also denied leave to appeal the costs award, finding no error in principle or irrationality in the quantum.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario heard an appeal and cross-appeal concerning the interpretation of an easement.

The primary issue was whether an easement for "vehicular and pedestrian access and egress" included the right to park.

The application judge had ruled it did not.

The appellant (Friuli Long Term Care) argued the application was speculative and that parking rights were ancillary or an easement of necessity.

The cross-appellant (Primont (Castelmont) Inc.) sought an additional declaration regarding redevelopment.

The Court of Appeal dismissed both the appeal and the cross-appeal, affirming the application judge's finding that the easement did not include parking rights and that parking was a contractual matter.

The court also upheld the refusal of the additional declaration due to procedural issues.

The plaintiff, Rose-Terra Investments Inc., moved for summary judgment against the defendant, Anna Marlena Butryn, seeking damages for her default on minutes of settlement related to a mortgage.

The defendant raised several defenses, including duress, undue influence, lack of independent legal advice, bare trustee status, and want of consideration.

The court dismissed all of Ms. Butryn's defenses, finding no genuine issue for trial, and granted summary judgment in favour of the plaintiff, awarding damages for the shortfall on the property sale and associated costs.

The appellant sought a 90-day extension of time to perfect its appeal of a summary judgment dismissing its action against the City of Barrie and individual respondents.

A motion judge granted the extension for the City but denied it for the individuals.

On review, the Court of Appeal found the motion judge erred by misapprehending the appeal's potential merit and failing to apply the principle that a party should not be deprived of their right to appeal without real prejudice.

The panel set aside the motion judge's order and granted the extension for the appeal against all respondents.

An appeal concerning when an international commercial arbitration award becomes "binding" on the parties for purposes of judicial recognition and enforcement under the UNCITRAL Model Law.

The appellants obtained an arbitration award from a rabbinical court in New York for significantly less than sought.

After unsuccessfully applying to set aside the award, they sought recognition and enforcement.

The respondents opposed on the ground that the award had not yet become binding because they intended to pursue further issues before the arbitral tribunal.

The application judge dismissed the recognition application.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the award was binding and should be recognized and enforced.

The court clarified that the potential jurisdiction of the arbitrator to entertain new issues about post-award events does not affect the binding nature of the award.

This is a costs endorsement following an appeal decision dated June 30, 2017.

The appellants (Iranian government entities) appealed orders from the Superior Court of Justice.

The Court of Appeal dismissed most appeals but allowed appeals in actions commenced by certain respondents, striking those actions.

The court awarded costs to the respondents on a partial indemnity basis, rejecting the appellants' argument that no costs should be awarded due to novel issues and declining to award substantial indemnity costs or costs to respondents whose actions were struck.

The applicants sought an order recognizing and enforcing an arbitral award of $400,000 made by a religious arbitral tribunal (Beth Din).

The respondents opposed, arguing the award was not yet binding as the tribunal had indicated a willingness to consider additional issues regarding costs and damages.

The court dismissed the application, finding that the arbitration process was not yet complete and the tribunal was not functus officio, applying the competence-competence principle to defer to the tribunal's jurisdiction.

The appellants (Iran and related entities) appealed orders of the Superior Court of Justice recognizing and enforcing U.S. judgments obtained by victims of terrorism against Iran for its sponsorship of terrorist attacks.

The respondents sought to enforce these judgments in Ontario under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act (JVTA) and amendments to the State Immunity Act (SIA).

Iran challenged the recognition and enforcement of the judgments on multiple grounds, including arguments regarding state immunity, the temporal scope of the JVTA, proof requirements, limitation periods, jurisdiction, public policy, diplomatic immunity, and the appropriateness of costs awards.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Iran's appeal, save for judgments arising from terrorist attacks that occurred prior to January 1, 1985, which could not be enforced under the JVTA.

Following the dismissal of Iran's motions to set aside default judgments and a Mareva injunction, the plaintiffs sought costs.

Iran argued it was immune from costs orders under the State Immunity Act and the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act.

The court held that Iran was not immune from costs and awarded the plaintiffs costs on a partial indemnity basis, finding the claimed amounts reasonable given the complexity and high stakes of the proceedings.

The Defendant, Woodcliffe Corporation, sought partial indemnity costs of $13,291.85 for a motion, claiming 34.8 hours for newly retained counsel.

The Plaintiff, Mitchell Cohen, argued these hours were unreasonable and disproportionate.

The court, exercising its discretion under section 131 of the Courts of Justice Act and Rule 57.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, considered the principles of indemnity, reasonable expectations of the unsuccessful party, and proportionality.

The court found the time spent by Woodcliffe's counsel excessive, particularly due to the retention of new counsel, and awarded $6,000 in costs, deeming it fair and reasonable given the average complexity of the issues and the plaintiff's reasonable expectations.

The plaintiff, Mitchell Cohen, brought a motion for an interim preservation order under Rule 45.02 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, seeking to have 5% of the purchase price from the sale of the Summerhill Condominium Project held in trust.

Cohen claimed a 5% interest in the profit from the development or sale.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that Cohen failed to satisfy the three-part test for an interim preservation order.

Specifically, there was no specific, readily identifiable fund at the time of the motion, Cohen's claim was for damages rather than a legal right to a specific fund, and there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate a risk of dissipation to satisfy the balance of convenience.

The plaintiffs, victims of terrorist attacks sponsored by Iran, sought to enforce U.S. judgments against Iran in Ontario under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act (JVTA).

Iran brought motions to set aside or stay the default judgments and a Mareva injunction, arguing state and diplomatic immunity, limitation periods, and public policy.

The court dismissed Iran's motions, finding that the State Immunity Act and JVTA removed Iran's jurisdictional and enforcement immunity, the actions were not statute-barred, and the U.S. judgments met the criteria for recognition in Canada.

The court also granted summary judgment to the Bennett plaintiffs to enforce their U.S. judgment against Iran's non-diplomatic property in Ontario.

The plaintiffs invested $50 million in a Russian oil and gas joint venture, relying on representations made by the defendants regarding the involvement of another major investor and the status of the corporate vehicles.

The plaintiffs later discovered that the corporate vehicles were sham public companies, the other investor had not funded its portion, and the defendants had engaged in stock manipulation and unauthorized issuance of free-trading shares.

The plaintiffs sued for deceit, breach of fiduciary duty, and unlawful conspiracy.

The defendants counterclaimed for breach of contract, inducing breach of contract, and malicious prosecution.

The Superior Court of Justice found several defendants liable for fraudulent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, and conspiracy, awarding substantial damages to the plaintiffs.

The defendants' counterclaim was dismissed in its entirety.

The plaintiffs brought a motion to certify a product liability class action against Whirlpool for pure economic losses related to allegedly negligently designed front-loading washing machines that were prone to biofilm buildup.

The court dismissed the certification motion, finding it plain and obvious that the plaintiffs had no tenable cause of action in contract, breach of statute, negligence, or waiver of tort.

Specifically, the court held that there is no recovery in negligence for pure economic losses for a shoddy but non-dangerous consumer product.