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LEGAL ANALYSIS OF HOW THE COURTS REACH THEIR DETERMINATION TO SET ASIDE THE CONTESTED OPTION AGREEMENT
LEGAL MIRACLE OR INSPIRED HARD WORK?
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In asking the Courts to set aside an option agreement: (the "Contested Option Agreement") that had been negotiated by their Father with the assistance of independent legal advice; that had been in place for 17 years between the contracting parties; that David had never objected to or complained about and was an agreement that their late Father had directly benefited from, the Kwinter Brothers were faced with a seemingly impossible legal challenge. It was a challenge so daunting that when their lawyer at trial, Pierre Bourque, first reviewed the facts of the case, advised the Kwinter Brothers that if they were looking for a miracle, "they should go to the Oratory". Yet, despite these supposedly insurmountable legal and evidentiary barriers, the Kwinter Brothers were successful in challenging the enforceability of the Contested Option Agreement at trial, which decision was upheld by the Quebec Court of Appeal. In this section of the website we will assess how this legal ‘miracle’ was achieved.
THE PATHWAY TO SUCCESS
The essence of the Estate’s defence to the Plaintiffs’ action to enforce the provisions of the Option Agreement was to prove that there being no possible benefit flowing to the Late David Kwinter by entering into what was a one-way option agreement that was only beneficial to the Plaintiffs, the only reasonable and plausible deduction that the Court could conclude was that the Late David Kwinter was induced to sign the Contested Option Agreement through fear or duress improperly exercised by the Plaintiffs. It was the Kwinter Brothers’ position that the overwhelming evidence adduced at trial proved that Aaron Gelber was a person who had a propensity to do anything he needed, including the use of overt and illegal duress and intimidation, to get what he wanted and that Aaron Gelber had in fact so exerted and employed such oppressive tactics to secure the late David Kwinter’s agreement, regardless of the presence of independent legal counsel who was acting for the late David Kwinter, to sign the Contested Option Agreement, which was solely beneficial to the Plaintiffs.
This section of the website will analyze, in turn, the complete lack of consideration that flowed to the Late David Kwinter for his signing of the Contested Option Agreement; the three evidentiary pillars of victory that allowed the Trial Court to find that the only rational explanation for the Late David Kwinter's entering into the one-sided Contested Option Agreement was the unrelenting and illegal duress being exerted by Aaron Gelber and an explanation as to the mysterious circumstances (until now) surrounding the signing of the Contested Option Agreement.
To read the following analyses click on the following titles:
The Lack of Consideration for the the Contested Option Agreement
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Proper Inferences Drawn by the Courts
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The Unused Letter - Fresh Evidence
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The Contested Option Agreement
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The Kwinter Brothers' Offer of Settlement
The Settlement of the Estate of Laya Gelber Kwinter
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