Every contract creates rights and obligations.  We have experience in a wide range of contract disputes involving agreements of purchase and sale, joint venture agreements, requests for proposals, contractor agreements, loan agreements, promissory notes, purchase orders and many more.  Most contract disputes are for monies owed, lost profits or other damages.  However, claims are also brought to enforce other, non-monetary obligations under a contract.

Even when there is no contract in place, the law is flexible enough to allow other claims for compensation.  Examples of such claims are for unjust enrichment, conversion, breach of confidence, breach of fiduciary duties, defamation (including Internet defamation), conspiracy and interference with business relations.  These are referred to as “business torts”.   Our lawyers have experience in bringing and defending against such claims.

Where a shareholder feels that a corporation or its board has acted unfairly with it and negatively affected its interests, it can bring an “oppression remedy” claim.  If a shareholder can satisfy the test for oppression, the courts will design a remedy appropriate to that unique situation.  Other times, equal shareholders in a closely-held company may be deadlocked, causing the business to suffer. In such a scenario, a shareholder can apply for a transfer or sale of shares or a winding-up of the company.  We have acted in numerous oppression remedy and winding-up claims.

Civil fraud occurs when a business or individual suffers losses due to the fraudulent conduct of another person.  In a commercial context, civil fraud can take the form of fraudulent due diligence fees, fake investments and fly-by-night contractors, to name just a few schemes.  We have experience in various civil fraud claims and have successfully obtained interim orders freezing bank accounts and other assets of fraudsters.

Common disputes that arise between commercial landlords and tenants are over rent obligations and rent arrears, common area maintenance charges, lease terminations, repossessions, unlawful re-entries or distrains, repair and maintenance obligations, renewal rates and future rent claims.  We have acted for commercial landlords and tenants in a wide variety of leasing disputes.

Franchisors have strict obligations to disclose all information that would reasonably affect a franchisee’s decision on whether or not to purchase a franchise.  Their disclosure must be complete and contained in one single disclosure document.  If a franchisor fails to do so, a franchisee may be entitled to rescind the franchise agreement, cancel all personal guarantees and claim for all its damages, or sue for misrepresentation. We have assisted franchisees in various disputes involving rescission claims, franchise terminations and royalty disputes.

Injunctions and mandatory orders are powerful litigation tools that can stop a party from taking actions that are harmful to the other, or that force a party to do certain things. An injunction becomes necessary when going through the usual litigation process would cause irreparable harm as a result of the passage of time.  We have successfully obtained emergency injunctions in cases involving breaches of contract, unfair competition, franchise terminations, fraudulent conveyances and civil fraud.