Andrew Harington

The applicant, Gregory Zentner, sought certification of a class action against GFA World and related entities, alleging fraud and misappropriation of charitable donations.

The defendants brought a cross-motion for summary judgment to dismiss the claim on limitation grounds.

The court dismissed Zentner's motion for certification, finding that the pleadings did not disclose a cause of action because the donations were unencumbered gifts, meaning donors did not suffer a compensable loss recoverable through civil action.

The court also found insufficient factual basis for common issues, particularly regarding reliance and causation.

However, the defendants' summary judgment motion was also dismissed, as there remained a genuine issue requiring a trial concerning when Zentner discovered, or reasonably ought to have discovered, the material facts of his claim for limitation purposes.

In an ongoing patent infringement trial, the Defendant moved to reopen the evidentiary record before closing arguments to adduce additional expert evidence regarding the full cost approach to an accounting of profits.

The motion was prompted by the recent Federal Court of Appeal decision in Nova Chemicals, which the Defendant argued fundamentally changed the governing law.

The Court applied the test to reopen a trial, finding that the proposed evidence could change the result and could not have reasonably been obtained earlier given the state of the law prior to Nova Chemicals.

The Court granted the motion, as well as the Plaintiff's cross-motion to file reply expert evidence.