James R. Leslie

This case involved cross-motions for summary judgment concerning a terminated mortgage commitment letter.

The plaintiffs (developer) sought the return of a lender fee, alleging the defendants (lender) made unreasonable demands and acted in bad faith, leading to the termination.

The defendants sought the outstanding balance of the fee.

The court determined that a $100,000 deposit paid by the developer was a valid liquidated damages clause and could be retained by the lender.

However, the remaining $326,500 of the lender fee was deemed an unenforceable penalty, as the lender provided insufficient evidence of damages incurred for work not performed.

The court granted the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment for the $326,500 and dismissed the defendants' motion.

The plaintiffs, minority shareholders, brought a motion for a mandatory interlocutory injunction seeking reinstatement to the board of directors and an order compelling the corporation to declare dividends.

The plaintiffs had previously sued the corporation and majority shareholders for $7.5 million for conspiracy, fraud, and oppression.

The court dismissed the request for mandatory injunctions, finding the plaintiffs did not establish a strong prima facie case for reinstatement due to their conflict of interest, nor for an immediate dividend distribution while the corporation's liability in the lawsuit remained undetermined.

However, the court granted a non-mandatory injunction preserving the status quo by prohibiting the corporation from expending funds outside the ordinary course of business.

The appellants, comprising an individual and two corporations, appealed a lower court decision that dismissed their application for specific performance.

They sought to compel the respondent, a separated spouse, to execute a Non-Solicitation and Non-Competition Agreement (NCA) as part of a corporate share sale.

The application judge found no evidence that the respondent had agreed to the NCA.

The respondent cross-appealed the costs award from the lower court.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no palpable and overriding error in the application judge's finding regarding the NCA.

Leave to cross-appeal costs was denied, as the appellate court found the original costs award to be reasonable despite a potential misdirection by the application judge.

The plaintiff, Crawford Packaging Inc., brought a motion for an interlocutory injunction against its former salesperson, Orazio Dorata, and corporate defendants, alleging breach of non-competition, non-solicitation, and employee poaching clauses in Dorata's employment contract, as well as failure to return company property.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the plaintiff failed to meet the high threshold for a quia timet injunction, as no actual harm had occurred, and any future harm was speculative.

The court also noted that contractual provisions deeming fiduciary duty or irreparable harm are ineffective if not supported by legal standards.