Litigation is sometimes a slow and costly process, designed to ensure all parties are provided with sufficient opportunity to present their best case in a dispute. Unfortunately, personal and business realities often move much faster than ordinary litigation can accommodate, meaning that the time it takes to succeed in litigation can – in itself – be detrimental to your interests or your client’s interests.
Interim and Interlocutory Injunctions
Fortunately, the courts have a robust system in place to give parties immediate, if temporary, relief in the form of an injunction to ensure their rights are not compromised by the slow grind of the litigation process, giving all parties the time and opportunity to flesh out their positions once the immediate risk of harm has been dealt with. This kind of relief is limited only to situations where one can establish that such urgent remedies are truly necessary – that is, that without the immediate relief, no amount of litigation or monetary award will ever repair the impending damage.
This potential relief can be sought in a wide variety of cases, such as:
- partnership disputes and lockouts
- property is about to be unlawfully transferred, spent, or destroyed;
- theft of confidential information and intellectual property infringement;
- evictions or business intereference issues
- and many others.
Injunctive relief can take many different forms depending on the protection needed. For instance, in disputes where land is involved, the court may urgently grant an order for a Certificate of Pending Litigation (“CPL”), which will allow a moving party to register notice to the world that interests in the land are in dispute, warning potential third parties away from relying on whatever interests the defendants claim to have in that property. In other cases, freezing orders and disclosure orders can be sought where there is a risk that the defendant will dissipate their assets, or where there is a risk that evidence will be destroyed. Courts can also potentially order specific performance, requiring the other side to positively take certain actions, rather than simply refrain from further action.
Not all lawyers or law firms are experienced in acting for clients to obtain or respond to injunctive relief. They can be very time-intensive and resource-intensive. Requesting urgent relief from the court can potentially expose clients to paying significant damages if the court later determines that the injunctive relief should not have been granted.
Why Gilbertson Davis LLP
Our lawyers have experience in obtaining or defending against injunctive proceedings in a wide array of litigation matters, including real estate disputes, intellectual property infringement, fraud claims, and others. We are familiar with the kinds of cases, and the evidence required to obtain injunctive relief, and to advise when a moving party’s obligations fall short such that an injunction may be set aside. For clients with lawyers already retained on other aspects of their matter, we can work closely to ensure all avenues are being advanced in a way that best protects their interests.
Initial Consultation
If you are involved in a dispute that requires injunctive relief, or if you are counsel for a client who requires alternative or additional counsel to advance a motion for injunctive relief, please contact Gilbertson Davis LLP to arrange an initial consultation. Where injunctions are being sought, it is important to obtain legal advice promptly.
Brief informational summaries about insurance litigation, commercial litigation and family law litigation matters in the courts of Ontario and Canada are periodically published on our website. Please note that our website content is for informational purposes only, and should not be construed or relied upon to provide legal advice. If you require legal advice, please request an initial consultation with Gilbertson Davis LLP using the Request Consultation Form on this webpage or by contacting our Intake Coordinator on (416) 979-2020, ext. 223 (both subject to the Terms of Use described on our Contact page).
Comments & Opinions by Gilbertson Davis LLP lawyers and staff on its Blog, or in media interviews, appearances or publications, or in professional publications, are personal to them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Firm or anyone at the Firm other than the individual expressing those comments or opinions.
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