The Limits on Relief from Forfeiture of a Commercial Lease: Ontario’s highest court again sides with Landlords when Tenancies are disrupted by COVID-19

This column was originally published on the Real Estate News Exchange (Renx.ca). In the latest chapter in the commercial tenancy battles caused by the pandemic, Ontario’s highest court has set out the limits on relief from forfeiture of a commercial lease.  This time, a major anchor tenant in a shopping mall asked for help after …

The Duty of Good Faith when Dealing with Pre-construction Assets and Assignments of Interest

This column was originally published on the Real Estate News Exchange (Renx.ca). An important decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has affirmed two important principles: (1) Pre-construction assets should only be transferred when the builder’s consent is obtained; and (2) Parties should never lose sight of the obligation to act in good faith …

The Dire Consequences of Failing to Immediately Disclose a Settlement Agreement

If you ask most litigators which aspect of their practice keeps them awake at night, nine times out of ten, the answer will be missing a limitation period. This is a valid worry, of course. After all, if the deadline to commence a claim is missed, even by a short window, not only do our …

Defamation Claim Against Premier Ford Slapped Down

In Blair v. Ford, 2021 ONCA 841, Brad Blair (“Blair”) appealed the decision of Justice Belobaba to dismiss Blair’s action against Premier Doug Ford (“Ford”) on the basis that it was a strategic lawsuit against public participation (“SLAPP”).  The Court of Appeal dismissed Blair’s appeal and upheld the decision of Justice Belobaba.  This is another …

A Reminder to Purchasers of the True Cost of Not Closing – It’s not “Just the Deposit”

In Prowse v. Noroozi 2021 ONSC 3099 (CanLII), Justice McCarthy of the Superior Court of Justice recently granted summary judgment for $806,380.59 against a purchaser of a luxury home in King City (the “Property”) in an aborted real estate transaction. The facts in Prowse v. Noroozi are not uncommon.  The sellers listed the Property on …

Critical Ontario Appeal Decision on Preservation of Property

Preservation of property during litigation is dealt with under rule 45 of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure. The traditional test under rule 45 was designed for situations where the thing being preserved was the subject of the litigation, such as an asset over which ownership was disputed. This test was not appropriate for all …

Security for Costs

Security For Costs Explained As discussed in Volume 1, Number 4, an unsuccessful party at trial is generally required to pay 60 percent of the successful party’s legal fees.  Thus, if the successful party incurred costs of $100,000, the unsuccessful party is responsible to pay the successful party $60,000, in addition to paying his own …

The Limits to Class Action Privacy Claims in Ontario

Since the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Jones v Tsige,[1] creating an Ontario version of the tort of invasion of privacy called “intrusion upon seclusion”, privacy-related class actions have emerged as a growth area. Many of these have focused on the institutional release of personal information and some have been successfully certified.[2] However, a …