In recent years, much attention has been paid to amendments to provincial Securities Acts across Canada that make it easier for shareholders to sue for misrepresentations by public companies in financial statements and other public documents…

During this period significantly less attention has been paid to whether shareholder class actions might be brought under another and potentially much broader statutory remedy: the oppression remedy under one of the provincial or federal business corporations statutes. However, this may be changing.

Originally published in The Lawyers Weekly.

Full article

On January 14, 2010, the Investment Industry Regulatory Association of Canada (“IIROC”), the self regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates all investment dealers in Canada, enacted what is almost certain to be a major expansion of its 15-year-old mandatory arbitration program. In particular, IIROC has increased from $100,000 to $500,000 the upper limit on client claims that are required to be resolved through binding arbitration if the client requests it.

Full article

Contributors: The Hon. David C. Dingwall, P.C., Q.C., Kenneth Dekker, Michael Osborne, Fiona Campbell (Articling Student), and Brigid Wilkinson (Summer Student)

An update on significant commercial litigation decisions released recently in Canada.

• Insurance companies hit with $455.7 million class action judgment
• Court of Appeal comes to the fork in the road – and takes it
• Alberta appeal court overturns unprecedented damages award to dismissed investment advisor
• Judgment granted in Ontario’s first-ever environmental tort class action
• The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes – Its time has come!
• Court refuses to add to the contractual obligations of the vendor of a business

Full article

In a recent decision, a five judge panel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario revised the legal test to be applied when the Ontario courts are asked to assume jurisdiction over a foreign defendant. The Court’s decision in Van Breda v. Village Resorts Ltd. clarifies the applicable legal principles and should provide greater guidance to Ontario courts on whether and when they can properly take jurisdiction over foreign defendants.

Full article

Contributers: Kenneth Dekker, Jennifer Dyck, Christian Farahat, Sonny Ingram, and Michael Osborne.

An update on significant commercial litigation decisions released recently in Ontario.

Full article