Larry Wynn Keown

The plaintiff, Voysus Connection Experts Inc., initiated an action alleging fraud and other breaches against former employees.

Voysus obtained an ex parte Mareva injunction against two defendants, Tayyab Shaikh and Anisha Shaikh, which was subsequently dismissed due to Voysus's failure of full and frank disclosure.

Voysus's motion to strike certain evidence from the defendants was also dismissed, though a confidentiality order was issued.

This endorsement addresses the costs of both motions.

The defendants sought substantial indemnity costs for the Mareva motion and costs for the motion to strike.

The court found that while Voysus's conduct warranted reproach, the defendants' conduct also unnecessarily increased costs.

The court awarded the defendants partial indemnity costs of $70,000.00 for the Mareva motion and ordered each party to bear their own costs for the motion to strike, concluding that the motion to strike was misconceived due to the defendants' actions.

The plaintiff, Royal Bank of Canada, brought a motion to strike the defendants' statement of defence for non-compliance with a discovery order and failure to pay previous costs.

The plaintiff also sought an order for personal costs against the defendants' lawyer, Mr. Gakiri, for improper conduct during a discovery examination.

The court declined to strike the defence, granting the defendants a final opportunity to comply with the discovery plan and pay outstanding costs.

However, the court found Mr. Gakiri's conduct during the examination improper, constituting an abuse of the discovery process, and ordered him to personally pay a portion of the wasted costs.

Directions were also provided for the future conduct of the defendants' examinations for discovery.