The Ontario Court of Appeal in Pirani v Esmail was asked to determine the appropriate way to determine the quantum of damages when no accounting records are available. In a 2-1 decision, the majority held that the expert’s reconstruction of accounts was not reliable given the near absence of accounting records. However, the dissenting judge […]
The recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Kavanagh v. Lajoie serves as a reminder to folks on the receiving end of a promise not to count their chickens before they are hatched. In 2005, Mark Lajoie’s father promised to gift him a house in Ottawa. The father then transferred title to the house to himself and
It is not surprising that Mickey Rooney’s estate may become embroiled in litigation. Mr. Rooney was married nine times; he was survived by a number of children and stepchildren, and was estranged from his current wife at the time of his death. Such full lives often lead to complicated estates. More troubling was that shortly
The Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Marcus v. Cochrane (released March 20, 2014) provides a clear statement of the court’s willingness to take a hard look at the proportionality of costs awards, and reduce costs substantially, if necessary. The appeal arose out of a claim that Louise Marcus (“Marcus”) brought against her former lawyer, Carol Ann
In reasons delivered last week in Michipicoten First Nation v. Michipicoten First Nation Community Trust, Justice Varpio emphasized that objections to trustee accounts must be specific. If objections are too vague, then the objectors run the risk of having their objections struck. An added risk of delivering vague objections is that the lack of specificity will result
