Hilary Claire Book

This costs endorsement follows the Court of Appeal’s decision allowing the appellants’ appeal in part.

The court found that the trial judge erred in requiring Mak Mera Limited to repay US$405,000 and in awarding $200,000 in defamation damages to James Bay Resources Limited.

The appellants were awarded costs of the appeal and, after submissions on trial costs, the court awarded the appellants $400,000 in trial costs, payable by James Bay, as a fair and proportionate amount in light of the appeal outcome and the parties’ relative success.

This appeal arose from a dispute between James Bay Resources Limited and Mak Mera Nigeria Limited regarding two agreements for oil and gas consulting services in Nigeria, as well as a claim for defamation.

The trial judge had ordered Mak Mera to repay US$405,000 in service fees, characterizing them as advances, and awarded James Bay $200,000 in defamation damages.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding that the trial judge erred in her contract interpretation because the monetary payments were unconditional fees for services rendered, not repayable advances.

Additionally, the court reduced the defamation damages to a nominal award of $1,000 because the substantial award was unsupported by the evidence.

The decision addresses two competing motions for the appointment of representative counsel for investors in a receivership proceeding involving Sussman Mortgage Funding Inc. The court reviews the procedural background, the need for representative counsel, and the competing proposals from Aird & Berlis LLP and Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP.

The court ultimately appoints Aird & Berlis LLP as representative counsel, finding their approach and fee structure preferable for efficiency, transparency, and certainty.

This decision concerns three related matters: the appointment of a receiver over the assets of Sussman Mortgage Funding Inc. and related companies, the granting of a Mareva injunction against Sanford Sussman, and the scheduling of a motion to appoint representative counsel for investors.

The court finds the appointment of B. Riley Farber Inc. as receiver to be in the public interest and grants the Mareva injunction on consent.

The decision addresses the statutory and common law bases for receivership, the public interest in protecting investors, and the coordination of proceedings involving multiple stakeholders.

This decision concerns two related shareholder applications under section 241 of the Canada Business Corporations Act involving SpassMed Inc. and its affiliates.

The court reviews the procedural history, including consolidation of the applications, amendments to the relief sought, and the appointment of an interim monitor.

Due to significant disputes of fact and credibility, the court orders that the consolidated application be converted to an action to allow for a full trial process.

This appeal arose from two actions tried together concerning breaches of a license agreement and fiduciary duties related to powder-coating business ventures.

The trial judge found that Robert Langlois breached a License Agreement and fiduciary duties to the "ACS plaintiffs" (7868073 Canada Ltd. et al.), with Jeffrey Sugar and Gary Sugar knowingly assisting.

Profits were disgorged to the ACS plaintiffs, and a separate action by Gary Sugar was dismissed as moot.

The appellants (Gary Sugar and the "Langlois appellants") challenged the trial judge's findings on the License Agreement's validity and termination, the existence and continuation of fiduciary duties, and the misappropriation of corporate opportunities.

The ACS plaintiffs cross-appealed the costs award.

The Court of Appeal dismissed all appeals and denied leave to cross-appeal costs, affirming the trial judge's conclusions that the License Agreement was valid and not terminated, that fiduciary duties continued, and that corporate opportunities were misappropriated.

James Bay Resources Limited, having been awarded damages for breach of contract and defamation in a prior decision, sought costs of $607,759.

The court awarded costs of $309,401.91 inclusive of HST against Mak Mera Limited only, making no costs award against Adewale Olorunsola due to divided success.

The court significantly reduced the requested costs, citing over-lawyering, lack of detail in the bill of costs, the applicant's conduct unnecessarily increasing litigation costs (e.g., late document production, issues with counsel retention leading to trial adjournment), and the disproportionality of the claimed costs to the damages awarded.

The court applied a 30% reduction to account for these factors and specific deductions for certain claimed expenses.

The plaintiff corporation sued its former Nigerian business partner and its principal arising from failed oil and gas ventures and a letter sent to Nigerian regulators and Shell after the relationship collapsed.

The court held that the parties’ written agreements made compensation contingent on successful acquisition and completion of an oil and gas asset, and implied a term requiring repayment of $405,000 advanced when no qualifying acquisition was completed.

The court further found the July 2014 letter defamatory, rejected the defences of justification, fair comment, and qualified privilege, and held that malice was established through knowing or reckless misstatements made to exert commercial pressure.

Contractual repayment was ordered against the corporate defendant alone, while defamation damages of $200,000 were awarded jointly and severally against both defendants.

This appeal concerns a share-purchase transaction under a unanimous shareholders' agreement (USA) that went awry.

The appellants, Leeder Automotive Inc. and 2786818 Ontario Inc., sought to compel the respondent, Douglas Warwick, to sell his shares.

The application judge dismissed their application, finding that Leeder had repudiated the share-purchase agreement by failing to comply with the USA's valuation provisions.

On appeal, the Court of Appeal affirmed the application judge's finding of repudiation, although it corrected her legal error by clarifying that the share-purchase transaction constituted a standalone contract capable of repudiation, rather than merely an implementation of the USA.

The Court found that Leeder's failures to obtain an independent real estate appraisal and to prepare financial statements in accordance with GAAP, including the improper exclusion of a significant settlement, amounted to fundamental breaches, justifying the respondent's acceptance of repudiation.

The appeal was dismissed.

This decision addresses a motion concerning the authenticity of a photocopied letter that the defendants sought to introduce as an exhibit during cross-examination.

The plaintiff objected, arguing insufficient authentication.

The court, after a voir dire, clarified the low evidentiary threshold for admissibility, ruling that the witness's initial statement that the signature "appeared to be his" was sufficient to mark the document as an exhibit.

The ultimate determination of the letter's authenticity and weight was reserved for the trier of fact at the conclusion of the trial, emphasizing that authenticity disputes are best resolved at the case's end.

The plaintiff, James Bay Resources Limited, brought a motion for leave to introduce three previously undisclosed documents at trial, pursuant to Rule 53.08 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The defendants opposed the admission.

The court applied the updated discretionary Rule 53.08(1) test, which requires a reasonable explanation for the failure to disclose, no uncompensable prejudice to the opposing party, and no undue delay.

While the explanation of inadvertence was considered weak, the documents were highly relevant, and the defendants had conducted discovery on them without demonstrating actual prejudice or requesting an adjournment.

The court granted leave to admit the documents and awarded the defendants costs on a substantial indemnity basis.

The plaintiff, Bay-Yorkville Developments Ltd. (BYDL), brought a motion to consolidate its action against Ferguson-Neudorf Glass Inc. (FNG) with a pre-existing main action involving Toronto Standard Condominium Corporation No. 2282.

FNG opposed the consolidation and sought to schedule a summary judgment motion on limitations grounds.

The court granted the consolidation, finding that the actions shared common questions of law and fact, arose from the same transactions, and that consolidation would avoid multiplicity of proceedings and promote efficiency.

The court further ruled that FNG's summary judgment motion should be heard only after discoveries were completed, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive record in complex construction litigation.

This is a costs endorsement following motions by three groups of defendants to strike the plaintiff's fresh as amended statement of claim.

The court had previously substantially granted the motion by the 1Plus12 Corporation defendants, dismissed the motions by the Ricci and Karp defendants to strike the statement of claim against them, and struck the plaintiff's affidavit.

This endorsement determines the costs payable between the parties.

The 1Plus12 defendants were awarded $17,000 in partial indemnity costs from the plaintiff, as they were substantially successful.

The Ricci defendants were awarded $9,000 in partial indemnity costs from the plaintiff, despite their motion to stay being dismissed, due to the necessity of responding to allegations of criminal conduct that were struck.

No costs were awarded to or against the Karp defendants, as their motion to strike the claim against them was dismissed, although they succeeded in striking the plaintiff's affidavit.

This is a costs endorsement following the dismissal of the applicant's motion for financial disclosure.

The applicant, Barbara Cohen, sought extensive financial disclosure from the Estate of Sidney Cohen and other parties, which the court found to be an attempt to circumvent a prior bifurcation order by Justice Audet.

The court dismissed the disclosure motion and subsequently awarded costs to the successful respondents and non-parties, including the Estate, Susan Charendoff, Brian Cohen, and several corporate non-parties.

The decision addresses the principles of costs, including partial indemnification, encouraging settlement, discouraging inappropriate behavior, and ensuring justice, while considering the reasonableness and proportionality of the requested amounts.

The plaintiff, a co-founder of 1PLUS12, brought an action against numerous defendants, including the corporation's lawyers and investors, alleging a Ponzi scheme and claiming unpaid compensation.

Several groups of defendants brought motions to strike the statement of claim under Rules 21.01 and 25.11 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The court struck the plaintiff's affidavit and the claims against the investors, finding the plaintiff lacked standing to advance claims on their behalf.

The court also struck certain scandalous and irrelevant paragraphs from the pleadings.

However, the court dismissed the motions to strike the entirety of the claims against the defendant lawyers and law firms, finding it was not plain and obvious that the claims for negligence and misrepresentation would fail.

The appellants, Sandeep Singh and 9660143 Canada Inc., appealed an order dismissing their third-party claim against The Nationwide Groups Ltd. The third-party claim alleged that Nationwide's appraisal undervalued a property, leading to a failed real estate transaction.

The Court of Appeal upheld the motion judge's decision, finding that Nationwide did not owe the appellants a duty of care.

The court reasoned that there was no special relationship of proximity between Nationwide and the appellants, as Nationwide was retained by the buyer's lender, and the appellants did not plead reliance on Nationwide's appraisal.

The appeal was dismissed.

The defendants brought a motion to dismiss the plaintiff's action for failing to timely pay prior costs awards, or alternatively, for an order requiring the plaintiff to post security for costs.

The court declined to dismiss the action, noting the costs orders had since been paid and the plaintiff's conduct was not contumelious.

The court also dismissed the request for security for costs, finding the defendants failed to prove the corporate plaintiff had insufficient assets in Ontario and that the defendants' delay in bringing the motion rendered such an order unjust.

The applicants sought a declaration and mandatory order requiring the respondent minority shareholder to complete a share purchase transaction pursuant to a Shareholders' Agreement.

The respondent argued the applicants repudiated the agreement by failing to comply with the valuation process, specifically by unilaterally appointing real estate appraisers and instructing accountants to alter financial statements to exclude a settlement payment.

The court found the applicants fundamentally breached the agreement's valuation provisions, depriving the respondent of the bargained-for process.

The application was dismissed, allowing the respondent to remain a minority shareholder.

This is a costs decision following a successful application by Sukhvinder Kang (Applicant) against Resham Dhillon (Respondent) for the sale of a property.

Kang sought partial indemnity costs of $24,202.65.

The court found that Dhillon's evidence in the main application was inconsistent and lacked credibility, and that his denial of previously acknowledged facts regarding property ownership unnecessarily increased Kang's litigation costs.

The court applied the factors under Rule 57.01 and Section 131(1) of the Courts of Justice Act, concluding that the costs sought by Kang were fair and reasonable given the circumstances and Dhillon's conduct.

The moving party brought a motion for leave to appeal the order of Pollak J. dated November 22, 2021.

The Divisional Court denied the motion for leave to appeal and awarded costs to the responding parties fixed at $5,000 all inclusive.