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

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. [more] 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. [more] Full article

In his decision this Fall in Fraleigh v. RBC Dominion Securities, Ontario Superior Court Justice Newbould summarily dismissed an action brought by John Fraleigh against RBC Dominion Securities and one of its employees. The action was brought for allegedly false statements and testimony given before the Ontario Securities Commission claiming unusual trading activity in his RBC trading accounts – information that was later published in media reports. In dismissing Fraleigh’s action, Justice Newbould found that the claim arose entirely from testimony and other related communications to the OSC; communications that are protected by absolute privilege. [more] Full article

While the corporate oppression remedy is a broad remedy that can provide relief to a wide range of shareholders and certain other stakeholders harmed when a corporation is run contrary to their reasonable expectations, it will not provide relief to arm’s length contracting parties who later find that their contract does not give them the protection they want. [more] Full article