The Ontario Court of Appeal in Stern Estate v Solehdin, 2011 ONCA 286 refused to inquire into the Louisiana Bankruptcy Court’s jurisdiction over the subject matter of the dispute or permit the Appellants, guarantors in support of a loan to a company in Louisiana that went bankrupt, to re-litigate the issue of subject matter jurisdiction in Ontario.
The Respondents had obtained summary judgment in the Louisiana Bankruptcy Court against the Appellants despite objection by the Appellants at the time that only that the Louisiana State Court had subject matter jurisdiction. The Appellants did not dispute that there was a real and substantial connection to Louisiana, but argument that the matter should have been heard by the Louisiana State Court.
The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal from Ontario Superior Court of Justice order recognizing and enforcing the Louisiana judgment and thus gave effect in Ontario to the Louisiana Bankruptcy Court’s summary judgment against the Appellants, relying heavily upon the fact that the Appellants had participated in the Louisiana proceedings and had specifically raised the issue of the jurisdiction of the court at that time.
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