Jeramie Gallichan

The plaintiffs brought a motion seeking a declaration that certain communications with their lawyers, which were inadvertently left on the defendants' email servers after a share purchase transaction, were subject to solicitor-client privilege.

The plaintiffs also sought leave to file a supplementary affidavit after cross-examinations.

The court granted leave to file the new affidavit.

On the privilege motion, the court found that the plaintiffs' law firm did not represent the target companies during the transaction, meaning no joint privilege passed to the purchaser.

The court also held that the plaintiffs did not waive privilege by using the company email servers, as the disclosure was inadvertent and they maintained a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The court reviewed the documents and declared which ones were privileged.

The applicant trustee brought a motion for a final passing of accounts, approval of trustee compensation, approval of legal fees, and costs of prior related motions.

One of the respondent beneficiaries objected to the trustee's compensation and legal fees, and argued that the estate should bear the costs of the prior litigation.

The court approved the trustee's compensation and legal accounts, finding them reasonable given the complex and contentious nature of the estate administration.

The court ordered the objecting beneficiary to personally pay the costs of a doomed capital repairs motion and 80% of the original passing of accounts motion, but ordered the estate to bear the costs of a will interpretation motion as it raised a public policy issue regarding ambiguities in the will.

Zurich, the surety for the insolvent general contractor Bondfield, brought a motion to intervene as a party in a construction lien reference.

Zurich sought to participate in a vetting committee for the distribution of the owner's holdback among the timely lien claimants.

The court granted the motion, finding that Zurich had a direct interest in the holdback because it had made significant holdback advances to the major electrical and mechanical trades and had taken partial assignments of their lien rights.

The court ordered the timely claimants to pay Zurich's costs of $30,000.

The defendants brought a motion to strike portions of the plaintiff's Statement of Claim, arguing the allegations were scandalous, frivolous, or vexatious.

The impugned pleadings detailed the plaintiff's long-standing relationship with the directing mind of the defendant corporations, including allegations of a cult-like following, unpaid labour, and promises of an ownership interest.

The court dismissed the motion, finding the allegations were relevant to the plaintiff's claims for an oppression remedy and constructive dismissal, and that the plaintiff was entitled to have his claim tested on the merits.