Matthew Benjamin Lerner

The plaintiff was defrauded by its employee, who used some of the stolen funds to pay criminal restitution to his former employer, whom he had previously defrauded.

The plaintiff sued the former employer and its principal for knowing receipt and unjust enrichment, seeking to trace and recover the funds.

The court dismissed the action, finding that the plaintiff could not reliably trace the funds, the defendants lacked constructive knowledge of the second fraud when they received the payments, and there was a valid juristic reason for the defendants' enrichment.

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.

The defendants brought motions for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiffs' action arising from a shotgun buy-sell offer in a partnership dispute.

The plaintiffs claimed the offer was invalid, and alleged breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and oppression.

The court found that the shotgun buy-sell offer was valid and complied with the partnership agreement.

The court also dismissed the claims for breach of fiduciary duty and oppression, finding that the defendants were entitled to exercise their contractual rights.

However, the court directed a trial on three specific breach of contract issues relating to closing arrangements and the calculation of net earnings.

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.

The plaintiff sought an interlocutory injunction against former key employees and contractors who started a competing business.

The plaintiff alleged breach of fiduciary duty and breach of confidence.

The court found that the plaintiff established a strong prima facie case that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties and duties of confidence by using the plaintiff's confidential information and business opportunities.

The court granted the interlocutory injunction for six months, finding that the plaintiff would suffer irreparable harm and the balance of convenience favoured the plaintiff.

The appellants appealed a trial judge's decision rejecting their claim against the respondent regarding an alleged representation about the location and configuration of basketball seats purchased under a licence.

The Court of Appeal found no error in the trial judge's findings that the licence contained no such representations and that no oral representations were made.

The appeal was dismissed with costs awarded to the respondent.

In a CCAA proceeding, the Applicants (Hollinger Inc. et al.) sought approval of settlement agreements with their former auditors (KPMG) and lawyers (Torys).

The Non-Settling Defendants, including Conrad Black and David Radler, opposed the settlements, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction and that the included third-party releases and bar orders would deprive them of procedural rights to discovery.

The court held it had jurisdiction under the CCAA to manage litigation as a corporate asset.

The court approved the Pierringer-style settlements, finding that the procedural rights of the Non-Settling Defendants could be adequately protected through active case management and the application of the principle of proportionality in discovery.

The respondents brought a motion to transfer a Commercial List application from Toronto to Kitchener.

The underlying dispute involved two shareholders disagreeing over the implementation of a Transition Agreement and the proposed removal of one shareholder as a director.

The court applied a holistic balancing of the factors under Rule 13.1.02(2) of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

Finding that the applicant resided and worked in Toronto, and that the Commercial List could accommodate the scheduling, the court concluded the respondents failed to demonstrate that Kitchener was a more desirable venue.

The motion was dismissed with costs awarded to the applicants.

In CCAA restructuring proceedings involving a retail apparel company, the monitor sought approval of an asset sale agreement for the debtor’s Costa Blanca business and the debtor sought an extension of the stay of proceedings.

The court considered the criteria under ss. 36(3) and (4) of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and found the sale process had been conducted fairly and transparently and that the proposed transaction provided the best available consideration to creditors, notwithstanding that the purchaser was related to the debtor.

Approval of the sale was granted subject to a condition requiring the transaction to close by a specified deadline, failing which the debtor and monitor were required to seek further court directions.

The court also granted the debtor’s request to extend the stay of proceedings, approve liquidation of certain store inventory and fixtures, continue a key employee retention plan, and authorize repayment of secured loans.

The parties separated after a 16-year marriage.

During a brief reconciliation attempt, they negotiated a marriage contract.

The wife intended to give the husband one-half the value of the matrimonial home, but a drafting error in the contract gave him the full value.

The husband and his lawyer noticed the error but failed to seek clarification.

At the time, the wife was suffering from undiagnosed bipolar disorder and hypomania, causing her to act recklessly.

The court found the contract void ab initio due to a lack of consensus ad idem on a fundamental term.

Alternatively, the court set aside the contract under the Family Law Act due to the wife's lack of capacity and unconscionability.

The court ordered an equalization payment, retroactive spousal support, and retroactive and ongoing child support.

The moving parties sought a stay of proceedings relating to a sealing order in a CCAA proceeding pending the determination of their application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The motion judge dismissed the request, finding that the CCAA judge was better placed to assess the stay, and that the moving parties failed to demonstrate irreparable harm or that the balance of convenience favoured a stay.

The motion was dismissed with costs awarded to the responding party.