Shaun F. Laubman

The plaintiff brought a motion to amend his Statement of Claim in an estate dispute, seeking to add new claims and parties.

The defendants and proposed defendants opposed the motion, arguing that the new claims were statute-barred by the two-year limitation period and that the amendments would cause non-compensable prejudice.

The court granted the motion, finding that the amendments against the existing defendants did not constitute new causes of action, but rather sought alternative relief based on facts already pleaded.

Regarding the new parties, the court found the plaintiff had established an arguable case that the claims were not discoverable until after the limitation period had presumptively expired.

The court also found no non-compensable prejudice, as the plaintiff provided an adequate explanation for the delay.

The applicant husband and respondent wife built a real estate corporate empire during their marriage.

Following their separation, the wife claimed her mother beneficially owned the subject corporations and relied on a 2007 marriage contract to exclude the assets from net family property.

The court found the husband was the beneficial owner of four of the corporations and a 50% owner of the fifth, determining the mother was merely a nominee.

The court also set aside the marriage contract, finding the parties had abandoned it by mutual agreement in 2008.

The wife's post-separation actions to seize control of the corporations were found to be oppressive under the Business Corporations Act.

The applicant sought an order for production of financial disclosure from third parties (the respondent's father, family corporations, and a family trust) pursuant to the Family Law Rules and Rules of Civil Procedure.

The applicant and respondent are involved in family proceedings concerning child support, spousal support, and equalization of net family property.

The applicant sought to set aside a domestic contract and alleged the respondent's reported income had declined significantly post-separation despite evidence of substantially higher cash flow during the marriage.

The third parties opposed production, arguing the motion was premature and that the domestic contract must first be set aside.

The court found the motion was not premature, that the applicant had met her onus, and that disclosure was necessary to fairly determine the respondent's true income and net family property.

The court ordered production of financial statements and corporate tax returns from the companies and details of non-arm's length expenses from all third parties, subject to confidentiality terms.

An appeal from a Superior Court decision regarding the provability of a former employee's profit-sharing claim in the bankruptcy of a real estate development company.

The trustee disallowed the claim on the grounds that it was an equity claim and too contingent and remote.

The appeal judge allowed the appeal, finding the profit-sharing claim was a claim for unliquidated damages for breach of contract, not an equity claim, and was therefore provable.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, upholding the lower court's decision and confirming that the profit-sharing claim is a provable claim that takes priority over the limited partners' equity claims.

This costs endorsement addresses the aftermath of a motion by Irene Theodora Maria Slegers to disqualify Lerners LLP from acting for Hans Charles Jonckheere due to an alleged conflict of interest.

The court dismissed the motion, finding no conflict, and was then asked to determine costs.

The court reviews the parties’ positions, the timing of the costs determination, the presumption of costs for the successful party, the impact of settlement offers, and the proportionality and reasonableness of the costs claimed.

Ultimately, the court orders Irene to pay Hans $57,000 in costs, reflecting the complexity and significance of the motion, the parties’ conduct, and comparable case law.

The moving party brought a motion for leave to appeal a lower court decision.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal without costs.

The court considered a motion by the respondent, Irene Slegers, to disqualify Lerners LLP from acting for the applicant, Hans Jonckheere, due to alleged conflicts of interest.

The issues included whether Slegers was ever a client of Lerners, whether confidential information was shared, and whether any such information was relevant to the current litigation.

The court found that Slegers was never a client of Lerners, that any information she shared was unsolicited and not protected by solicitor-client privilege, and that there was no conflict of interest.

The motion to remove Lerners LLP was dismissed.

This decision addresses cross-applications between two groups of real estate investors, led by David Civiero and Grant Alexander Hood, regarding the winding up or buy-sell/shotgun disposition of their jointly held corporations.

The court grants leave to add parties, converts the applications to actions, and orders transfer and consolidation with a related Toronto action, finding that the complexity and credibility issues require a full trial.

The applicant, Hugh Kuang, sought an order for $4,110,000.00 in interim legal costs and disbursements to fund an upcoming trial under the Ontario Business Corporations Act and the Family Law Rules.

The respondents resisted, arguing that a prior consent order providing $1,000,000.00 did not establish the applicant's ongoing entitlement to interim funding.

The court determined that the prior consent order resolved the issue of entitlement, leaving only the questions of compliance and quantum.

Finding the applicant's proposed budget excessive but recognizing the complexity of the litigation, the court granted the motion in part and ordered the corporate respondents to pay $2,725,000.00 in four staged payments.

The plaintiff in a complex family trust dispute brought motions on the eve of trial for further documentary production, further examinations for discovery, and leave to amend her Statement of Claim.

The motions sought to introduce new allegations that the defendants covered up and settled claims of sexual misconduct against the family patriarch, Frank Stronach.

The court dismissed both motions, finding no evidence that the requested documents existed, that the new allegations were irrelevant to the pleaded claims of corporate mismanagement, and that amending the pleadings three weeks before a scheduled seven-week trial would cause non-compensable prejudice and delay.

This decision addresses cross-motions by the plaintiffs (Hood) and defendants (Civiero) to compel answers to refused questions during examinations for discovery in a dispute over joint venture real estate projects.

The court ruled on the relevance and proportionality of various categories of questions, including those related to income, financial documents, potential witnesses, and the nature of agreements.

Key issues included the disclosure of personal expenses run through a joint company, the production of deleted text messages, and the privilege associated with the payment of legal fees.

The court also addressed requests for further discovery time, granting limited additional time to both parties with specific conditions.

The applicants brought a motion for an interim and/or interlocutory order to restrain the respondents from exercising powers prejudicial to their interests in a family trucking business and to nullify recent corporate governance actions.

The court granted a partial injunction, restraining the respondents from acting prejudicially or outside the corporation's best interests, finding a serious question to be tried, irreparable harm, and the balance of convenience favoring this restraint.

However, the court denied the request to nullify the corporate governance actions (which removed the applicants as directors and officers), as this constituted a mandatory injunction requiring a strong prima facie case, which the applicants failed to meet regarding their shareholder status.

Sukhdev Dhaliwal remained the sole shareholder, director, and officer, subject to the imposed restraints.

The court addressed two pretrial motions: one seeking to stay a counterclaim based on abuse of process due to delayed disclosure of a cooperation agreement, and another seeking leave for third-party discovery.

The motion to stay was dismissed, as the immediate disclosure rule for settlement agreements was found not to apply to agreements with non-parties.

The motion for third-party discovery was granted, with the court finding the non-party's evidence critical and that the cooperation agreement constituted a constructive refusal to provide information, making a pretrial examination necessary for trial fairness.

This decision addresses the costs of a complex motion concerning the interpretation of an interim preservation order's "usual and ordinary course of business" term.

The applicant sought partial recovery costs of approximately $105,000, while the respondents proposed $25,000.

The court awarded the applicant $98,000, finding them overwhelmingly successful on the key issues.

The court emphasized proportionality, the complexity and high stakes of the litigation, and the respondents' conduct, including significant delays, late affidavit delivery, and a "scorched earth policy" which unnecessarily increased costs.

The plaintiffs sought to enforce an "Outline of Terms of Settlement" reached during mediation, arguing it constituted a binding agreement.

The defendants contended that the Outline was not intended to be enforceable and lacked essential terms.

The court found that the Outline did not objectively reflect a mutual intention to create a binding agreement and that numerous material issues, including debt reallocation, minority shareholder rights, and tax implications of asset transfers, remained unresolved.

The court dismissed the motion, emphasizing that it cannot create a contract for parties where essential terms are missing.

The plaintiffs, Grant A. Hood Holdings Inc. and Grant A. Hood, brought a motion seeking unfettered access to the books and records of Hodero Holdings Ltd. and Cade Management Ltd., including real-time online access to QuickBooks, source documents, and the Hodero email server, as well as further affidavits of documents from the defendants.

The court granted real-time QuickBooks access with shared costs, allowed on-site inspection of hard copy source documents with shared conversion costs, but denied broad access to the Hodero email server, finding no legitimate business need and that the request was disproportionate.

The court also denied immediate orders for further affidavits of documents and cross-examination on them, emphasizing ongoing disclosure obligations.

Portions of an affidavit related to arbitration confidentiality were struck.

The appellant sold a property to the respondent subject to a vendor take-back mortgage, which required the appellant to remove an easement from title by a specific deadline to avoid a reduction in the purchase price.

The appellant obtained a court order discharging the easement and registered it on title before the deadline.

The respondent argued the condition was not met because the order was still subject to appeal at the deadline.

The Court of Appeal held that the registered discharge order satisfied the mortgage condition, as the land titles system guarantees title upon registration and no stay of the order had been sought.

This motion concerned the interpretation of the term “usual and ordinary course of business” as it applied to corporate respondents in an interim preservation order.

The corporate respondents sought an expansive interpretation to allow significant financial transactions, including leveraging properties and transferring funds for a private mortgage lending business.

The applicant sought a narrow interpretation to preserve assets.

The court applied principles of judicial order interpretation, emphasizing context and purpose, and found the respondents' proposed interpretation would negate the preservation order's effect.

The court adopted a narrow definition, limiting “usual and ordinary course of business” to day-to-day operations and management, explicitly excluding large-scale asset encumbrance or intercorporate fund transfers for investment.

All other relief sought by the respondents was dismissed.

The moving parties brought a motion for leave to appeal the order of Sheard J. dated January 10, 2023.

The Divisional Court dismissed the motion for leave to appeal and ordered the moving parties to pay costs fixed at $7,500.

This is a costs decision following a motion to appoint a litigation guardian for Anthony Di Silvestro Sr. The plaintiffs, Kathy Ann Di Silvestro and Kandis Developments Limited, successfully moved to appoint an independent litigation guardian (Bryan Gelman) for Anthony Di Silvestro Sr., despite opposition from the defendants Laura Marie Di Silvestro and Matthew Dennis Di Silvestro, who proposed themselves or an accountant with prior involvement.

The court awarded the plaintiffs $80,000 in costs, with 50% to be paid by Anthony Di Silvestro Sr. and the other 50% jointly and severally by Laura Marie Di Silvestro and Matthew Dennis Di Silvestro, due to their pursuit of inappropriate LG candidates despite clear conflicts of interest.