The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently released its decision on a vexatious litigation application in Lenczner Slaght LLP v. Glycobiosciences Inc et al, 2025 ONSC 829. The law firm, Lenczner Slaght (Lenczner), brought an application pursuant to section 140 of the Courts of Justice Act to declare both the corporation and its director vexatious litigants.
Background
The respondents on this vexatious litigant application were Glycobiosciences Inc. (Glyco), an Ontario corporation that carries on business by licencing intellectual property, and Kevin Drizen, an officer and director of Glyco, and its principal and controlling mind. Mr. Drizen had previously been granted leave to represent Glyco in 2017.
The record before the Court showed that Mr. Drizen has commenced at least 32 proceedings on behalf of Glyco since receiving leave to operate without the assistance of counsel. None of these actions have progressed to a hearing on the merits, but rather have been mired in procedural motions and meritless appeals.
Decision
The Court granted the application to declare the respondents vexatious litigants and stayed all of Glyco’s existing actions before any Court in Ontario except and until leave is granted by a judge of the Superior Court.
While the Court acknowledged that declaring a party a vexatious litigant is “an extraordinary power” that must be exercised sparingly and with care, it nonetheless deemed it appropriate in the circumstances. The Court found that on a wholistic view of Glyco’s litigation history, nearly all the indicators of a vexatious litigant are present, including that Glyco is an inordinate burden on the justice system, has instituted multiple proceedings against various defendants, repeatedly appealed the summary dismissal of his actions, accuses judges of bad faith or bias, and does not pay cost awards, among other factors. In addition, Mr. Drizen is personally impervious to financial implications because he sues through his corporation.
In defending against the application, Glyco and Dr. Drizen argued that the lawsuits Glyco has instigated are not vexatious as evidenced by various confidential settlements. The Court did not accept this argument. Settlement is not evidence of merit. To the contrary, the Court found that the dismissal record speaks to a litigant engaged in “nuisance litigation”.
Commentary
This case is noteworthy for the Court’s decision to declare a director a vexatious litigant for bringing numerous actions on behalf of a corporation. Not only was the corporation declared a vexatious litigant, the Court applied the remedy more broadly to the director of the Glyco personally and any other corporate entities he controls. The Court ultimately declared Dr. Drizen a vexatious litigant despite him not being a litigant in the series of actions commenced in Ontario courts.
Although there remains a high bar for declaring litigants vexatious, this decision demonstrates that the courts will deploy this remedy more broadly where doing so is necessary to maintain the integrity of the justice system. Here, the Court took a determinedly purposive approach to making its vexatious litigant order with a view to ensuring the order restrict the use of corporations as a mechanism to exert abuse through the civil litigation process.
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