Mr. Pont

The Applicant sought extensive financial disclosure from the Respondent, who brought a cross-motion to dismiss, strike a paragraph, and impose disclosure restrictions, including a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

The court criticized both parties' counsel for poor advocacy and lack of cooperation, particularly the Applicant's voluminous and unfocused material.

The court ordered specific, limited disclosure from the Respondent, contingent on the Applicant signing an NDA for confidential third-party information.

The Respondent's request to strike a paragraph containing settlement privileged discussions was granted.

Costs were awarded to the Respondent due to the Applicant's unreasonable positions and poorly prepared motion materials.

Following a trial of an issue regarding shareholder oppression and the valuation of shares, the applicant sought substantial indemnity costs of over $618,000.

The court found the applicant was only partially successful and awarded partial indemnity costs.

The court significantly reduced the requested quantum because the applicant's costs submissions lacked detail and the applicant engaged in unreasonable litigation conduct by refusing to allow experts to confer and resisting settlement efforts.

The court awarded the applicant $138,425 in costs, which included $2,500 for costs thrown away due to the respondent's improper communication with a witness during cross-examination.

The applicant husband brought a motion for interim spousal support and shared use of a Florida condominium following the breakdown of a 31-year marriage.

The core dispute involved determining the respondent wife's income from her corporation.

The court imputed the wife's income at $720,000 and the husband's at $180,000, ordering the wife to pay $20,000 per month in interim spousal support.

The husband's request for shared use of the Florida condominium was dismissed as he had alternative housing and timeshares available.

The applicant minority shareholder sought a determination of the purchase price for her 40% interest in a real estate holding corporation owned with her former spouse.

The court found that the respondent majority shareholder engaged in oppressive conduct by failing to provide financial disclosure, operating the corporation solely for the benefit of his separate operating company, and destroying corporate records.

To remedy the oppression, the court valued the applicant's shares at $1,832,054.60 without applying a minority discount.

The applicant brought a motion in a family law proceeding seeking disclosure from the respondent and a non-party family corporation to assist a retained valuator in assessing the respondent’s corporate interest and income for support purposes.

The court held that broad disclosure is appropriate where there are concerns that income from a closely held family business may be understated or manipulated.

Applying the “semblance of relevance” test and emphasizing the importance of full financial disclosure in family law, the court found the requested corporate and personal records relevant to valuation and income analysis.

The court ordered the respondent and the corporation to produce the requested documents and directed that the confidentiality agreement governing disclosure be amended to clarify that it also covered the valuator’s income analysis.