Legal Blog

Summary Judgment and Settlement Enforcement

Viveiros v. Mokhtarian 2018 Ont SCJ

Minutes of settlement called for the payment of settlement funds and, in default, a judgment for an amount exceeding the settlement amount. The defendant continually defaulted, but ultimately paid the settlement amount. The plaintiff sued for the difference between what the minutes set out as the judgment amount and the settlement amount. The judge noted that the court had discretion not to enforce a settlement if it considered the settlement to be unreasonable or if the settlement would result in an injustice. The judge dismissed the summary judgment motion to enforce the minutes of settlement. He held that there were genuine issue for trial as to whether breaches of the minutes of settlement had been waived, the scope of the release, the calculation of the damages being claimed, and whether the amount claimed was a penalty.

Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.