Meredith Bacal

The applicant, an experienced litigation lawyer, sought leave to bring a motion to set aside the Registrar's dismissal of his appeal in a bankruptcy proceeding.

The appeal had been dismissed for failure to perfect it within the ordered timeframe.

The court found that the applicant's conduct, including repeated delays and failure to comply with rules, indicated an attempt to stall the enforcement of the bankruptcy order.

The motion for leave was dismissed with costs.

The plaintiff, Canadian National Railway Company, brought an ex parte motion for an interim quia timet injunction to restrain unknown individuals from blockading its railway operations in Ontario.

The blockades were part of a political protest regarding the conflict in the Middle East.

The court applied the RJR-MacDonald test and found that the plaintiff established a serious issue to be tried regarding trespass, irreparable harm due to significant economic damage and disruption of rail traffic, and that the balance of convenience favoured the plaintiff as the protests were occurring on private property.

The interim injunction was granted.

Following a decision permanently staying the plaintiffs' second action for abuse of process, the successful defendants sought costs on a substantial indemnity basis.

The court rejected the request for substantial indemnity, finding that the defendants' Rule 49 offer was not beaten and the plaintiffs' fraud claim was never adjudicated.

The court awarded costs on a partial indemnity basis, reducing the requested amounts by 25% to account for issues that were deferred to a potential future motion.

Costs were fixed at $34,608 for the main group of defendants and $13,722 for Dr. Kajdehi.

The plaintiff commenced a wrongful dismissal action in 2015 against his former employer, which was stayed when the employer declared bankruptcy.

In 2019, the plaintiff commenced a second action against the bankrupt employer and several new defendants, alleging oppression, common employer, and improper transfer of assets.

The newly added defendants moved to strike or stay the second action.

The court permanently stayed the second action as an abuse of process, finding that it improperly circumvented the comprehensive regime of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act for challenging asset transfers, as well as the Rules of Civil Procedure regarding the addition of parties to an existing action.

Following a successful motion by the defendant to strike the plaintiff's statement of claim with leave to amend, the court determined the appropriate costs award.

The moving party sought over $43,000 on a partial and substantial indemnity basis, relying on an offer to settle.

The court found the offer to settle was less favourable than the outcome because it did not contemplate leave to amend, and thus awarded costs on a partial indemnity scale.

Applying the factors under Rule 57.01, the court fixed costs payable by the plaintiff to the moving party at $23,969.22.

The corporate defendant brought a motion to strike the plaintiff's statement of claim against it for disclosing no reasonable cause of action and to dismiss the oppression remedy claims for lack of jurisdiction.

The plaintiff alleged breach of an oral agreement for equity in a visual effects studio, conversion, fraudulent misrepresentation, and oppression.

The court found the plaintiff failed to plead any material facts establishing that the corporate defendant owed obligations under the agreement or engaged in wrongful conduct.

The statement of claim was struck with leave to amend, and the oppression claims were dismissed as the court lacked jurisdiction over the discontinued corporation.

The plaintiffs, creators of the cult film 'The Room', sued the defendants for copyright infringement, breach of moral rights, misappropriation of personality, passing off, and intrusion upon seclusion over the defendants' unauthorized documentary 'Room Full of Spoons'.

The defendants counterclaimed for damages resulting from an ex parte injunction previously obtained by the plaintiffs that delayed the documentary's release.

The court dismissed all of the plaintiffs' claims, finding that the documentary's use of clips from 'The Room' constituted fair dealing for the purposes of criticism, review, and news reporting.

The court granted the defendants' counterclaim, awarding US$550,000 in compensatory damages for lost revenue due to the injunction, and CAD$200,000 in punitive damages for the plaintiffs' oppressive and bad faith litigation conduct.

The applicant sought leave to appeal an arbitral award that ordered it to pay a $55,000 minimum guarantee to the respondent under a film distribution agreement.

The court dismissed the application, finding that the arbitration agreement's 'final and binding' clause precluded appeals on questions of law.

Furthermore, the court held that the proposed grounds of appeal were questions of mixed fact and law, not extricable questions of law.

The respondent's cross-application to enforce the arbitral award was granted.

The plaintiffs, creators of the cult film 'The Room', sought to extend an interlocutory injunction restraining the release of the defendants' documentary 'Room Full of Spoons'.

The defendants moved to dissolve the injunction, arguing material non-disclosure on the initial ex parte motion and failure to meet the test for an injunction.

The court dissolved the injunction, finding the plaintiffs failed to disclose material facts, including that the documentary's use of film excerpts likely constituted fair dealing.

The court also held that the plaintiffs failed to establish irreparable harm and that the balance of convenience strongly favoured the defendants' right to freedom of expression.