A couple of weeks ago, the Ontario Reports published Justice Grace's
decision on a summary judgment motion in a negligence action against police in Roe v. Leone et al., 2012 ONSC 6237, to little fanfare.
Years of litigation, an unpaid loan and fraud on the court all added up to more than $ 11 million awarded by a Gloucester County Circuit
judge on a summary judgment motion.
However, this principal may now be undermined given Ontario Court of Appeal's recent decision in an
appeal on a summary judgment motion in Michela v. St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic School, where Justice Huscroft explicitly rejected Bohemier as it was applied in Gristey,
[57] On a summary judgment motion, the evidence need not be equivalent to that at trial, but must be such that the judge is confident that she can fairly resolve the dispute...
The limitation period starts to run when the plaintiff has knowledge of a wrong and the facts that would constitute a cause of action, the Ontario Court of Appeal reaffirmed in upholding the dismissal of a dealer client's
claim on a summary judgment motion for falling outside the limitation period.
The purpose of the new power to call oral
evidence on a summary judgment motion is to assist the motions judge in making the determination as to whether any of the issues raised in the action require a trial for their fair resolution.
A pretrial version of hot tubbing has been added to the Ontario Rules: without prejudice meetings between opposing experts are now among the directions a judge can give where a trial is
ordered on a summary judgment motion (Rule 20.05 (2)(k)-RRB-.
After considering the voluminous material
filed on the summary judgment motions, he concluded the case could fairly and properly be decided on the basis of a trial focussed on the specific issues that required viva voce evidence.
On a summary judgment motion, «the evidence need not be equivalent to that at trial, but must be such that the judge is confident that she can fairly resolve the dispute.»
«It goes without saying that certification has nothing to do with the merits of the claims that have been made, Deloitte may well prevail when all of the evidence is presented and assessed at trial or
on a summary judgment motion,» he wrote.