John Wires

Following a damages inquiry in which the defendants were awarded damages including legal costs, the defendants sought additional partial indemnity costs for a prior recusal motion.

The court determined that the costs associated with the recusal motion had already been included in the damages award for legal costs following review of the defendants’ docketed accounts.

Because those costs were already compensated in the earlier award, they could not be recovered again.

The court therefore dismissed the belated request for additional costs and declined to award further costs for the present dispute.

The defendants sought over $100 million in damages following a damages inquiry ordered after the plaintiffs wrongfully obtained ex parte Mareva and Anton Piller orders that shut down the defendants' lottery telemarketing business.

The court found that most of the financial losses and lost business opportunities were caused by an American Temporary Restraining Order that pre-dated the ex parte orders, not the ex parte orders themselves.

However, the court awarded $250,000 for the loss of an opportunity to transition the business in an orderly fashion, $1,000 for a seized cell phone, and $703,576 for legal expenses incurred in setting aside the orders and participating in the inquiry, for a total award of $954,576.

The defendant brought a motion to stay or dismiss an Ontario action for lack of jurisdiction.

The plaintiffs sought contribution and indemnity from the defendant in relation to a large American judgment arising from their lottery resale business.

Applying the real and substantial connection test clarified in Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda, the court considered whether the defendant carried on business in Ontario.

The court found that the defendant’s indirect relationship with the plaintiffs through an authorized retailer in Prince Edward Island, a single audit visit, and termination of a retailer agreement did not establish that the defendant carried on business in Ontario.

The motion was granted and the action stayed for lack of jurisdiction.

The appellant, a Canadian mining company headquartered in Ontario, sued its former chief operating officer, an Australian national, for breach of contract and fiduciary duty relating to a mining project in Serbia.

The motion judge dismissed the action for want of jurisdiction and stayed it on grounds of forum non conveniens.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding a real and substantial connection to Ontario because the employment contract was governed by Ontario law, damages were sustained in Ontario, and the respondent had significant ongoing contact with the province.

The Court also held that the respondent failed to demonstrate that another jurisdiction was clearly more appropriate.