Matthew Benjamin Lerner

This endorsement addresses the costs of a successful motion brought by defendant Atif Kamran to remove Siskinds LLP as counsel for plaintiffs Dan Andersson and LEO Canada Inc., and to compel document production.

The court awarded costs to Mr. Kamran, payable by Mr. Andersson alone, fixed at $17,000.00 on a partial indemnity basis.

The court declined to award substantial indemnity costs, finding no reprehensible conduct by Mr. Andersson and noting that the defendants' settlement offer was technically deficient and lacked clarity, thus not engaging the presumptive consequences of Rule 49.10.

The court also considered the broader context of the litigation and the inflammatory nature of some allegations made by Mr. Kamran.

The applicant sought an oppression remedy or winding-up order against his brother and the family business, Clifton Plastics Ltd., regarding payments made to the brother after their father's retirement and subsequent incapacity.

The respondent brought a counter-application for an accounting and wrongful dismissal damages.

The court found no oppression but ordered a winding-up under s. 207 of the OBCA, requiring the applicant to purchase the respondent's shares at fair market value, reduced by $35,000 due to unequal contributions, and without attributing value to alleged shareholder loans.

Motions for leave to appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Justice dismissing a motion to require Algoma to resume payments under a Cargo Handling Agreement in the context of CCAA proceedings.

The applicants sought to invoke section 11.01(a) of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act to compel payment for post-filing services.

The motion judge had dismissed the motion three times on the same legal grounds.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the leave motions, finding no prima facie merit due to issue estoppel and no significance to the practice, as the issues were specific to the unique agreements underlying the Port Transaction.

This endorsement addresses the costs arising from a dismissed motion to stay an action.

The defendants, as moving parties, sought to stay the action, but their motion was dismissed with costs to the plaintiff.

The parties failed to agree on the scale and quantum of costs.

The court found the plaintiff's pre-motion offer to settle the motion was reasonable and should have been accepted, while the defendants' post-motion offer was not severable and included extraneous terms.

Consequently, the court awarded the plaintiff costs fixed at $17,800, calculated on a blended partial and substantial indemnity basis.

The defendants moved to stay an action brought by the plaintiff in Ontario, arguing that Ontario lacked jurisdiction simpliciter or was not the convenient forum, proposing Andorra as the appropriate venue.

The dispute concerned entitlement to €400,000 held in escrow under an Escrow Agreement, which contained a non-exclusive choice of law and forum selection clause in favour of Ontario.

The court found the essential nature of the lawsuit was rooted in the Escrow Agreement, which dictated Ontario law and forum.

The court dismissed the defendants' motion, finding no exceptional circumstances to disregard the forum selection clause and that Ontario was the more convenient forum.

The defendants, an insurance brokerage firm and its individual employees, brought a motion to strike the plaintiffs' statement of claim against the individual employees for failing to plead a reasonable cause of action.

The court found that the statement of claim did not sufficiently allege personal liability against the individual employees, as their actions were within the scope of their employment and lacked specific allegations of fraud, deceit, dishonesty, or actions separate from the corporate entity.

While the claims against the individual defendants were struck, the plaintiffs were granted leave to amend their statement of claim within 30 days to plead facts that could sustain a viable claim against them.

Following reasons granting an interlocutory injunction in a dispute involving alleged breach of fiduciary duties and misuse of confidential information, the court addressed disagreements over the form of the order and costs.

The plaintiff sought additional wording expanding the scope of entities and confidential technology referenced in the injunction, which the court refused because the relief had not been sought in the motion record or oral submissions.

The court required that the original wording of the injunction regarding preservation of confidential information be maintained.

A stay of the data‑imaging paragraph was granted for two defendants pending determination of their motion for leave to appeal to the Divisional Court.

Costs of the interlocutory injunction motion were ordered to be in the cause.

Following a complex family law trial involving challenges to a marriage contract, equalization, support arrears, and related financial claims, the successful party sought substantial costs.

The court considered Rule 24 of the Family Law Rules and found that the unsuccessful party acted in bad faith, including failing to provide disclosure, refusing reasonable settlement offers, and engaging in conduct that prolonged the litigation.

The court held that such conduct justified full recovery costs.

After deducting certain conference-related and administrative charges, the court awarded substantial costs and prejudgment interest to the successful party and costs to added respondents from the date of their settlement offer.