LOLG UPHOLDS BREACH OF CONTRACT JUDGMENT ON APPEAL
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On December 10, the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously upheld a $5 million judgment that LOLG won for their client in Ruparell v. J.H. Cochrane Investments Inc. This was an action to enforce a ‘handshake deal’ to buy an auto dealership and the land on which it is located. The deal was reached during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. The Court adopted LOLG’s argument that the trial judge had not made any errors of fact or law and dismissed the appeal. The Court of Appeal decision reinforces two important teachings: (i) that binding contracts are formed when the parties agree on the essential terms; and (ii) that a close-in-time third-party transaction can provide a proxy for the right amount of damages. The Court of Appeal’s decision can be found here: Ruparell v. J.H. Cochrane Investments Inc., 2021 ONCA 880