Business Litigation & Arbitration, Shareholder Oppression, Corporate Disputes

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Ellyn Law LLP Business Litigation & Arbitration Lawyers is a boutique law firm in Toronto, Canada, established in 1973. Our expertise is focused on arbitration and litigation of complex shareholder disputes, director and corporate litigation, international and domestic commercial arbitration, real estate and construction litigation, wrongful dismissal and international judgment enforcement. We also have expertise in estate litigation and copyright litigation involving blank audio media.

In each of these areas, we provide strong advocacy based on carefully-considered strategy. We have extensive trial, arbitration and appellate experience. However, we recognize that our clients would like their dispute to be resolved as economically as possible. Strong advocacy includes expertise in negotiation and in the use of alternative dispute resolution.

Our experience touches many industries including software development, computer distribution, banking and financial services, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, securities and investment dealers, automobile dealers, insurance brokerage and reinsurance, farming, food processing, real estate development, waste management and mining equipment manufacturing.

Our expertise is enhanced by keeping up-to-date on the latest legal developments in our fields of practice. We do this not only by case-focused research and private study but also by published papers and speaking at legal conferences. Some of our papers posted below. We have also just written the Canada chapter of International Liability of Corporate Directors.

Ellyn Law LLP approaches every legal problem with our clients' interests foremost in mind. Our lawyers are knowledgeable and experienced. We are committed to providing sound advice, creative strategy, effective negotiations and experienced advocacy. Attention to detail and keeping our clients well-informed are key parts of our service. We are lawyers who are accustomed to "think out of the box" to find the best solutions for our client's legal problems.

Year this Office was Established: 1973

Languages: French; Romanian; Hebrew; German; Spanish; Armenian; English.

Partners

Igor Ellyn, QC, CS, FCIArb. Senior Partner Agency and Distributorship, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate Practice, Arbitration, Business Litigation

Mr. Orie H. Niedzviecki Partner Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate Practice, Arbitration, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation

Associates

	Ms. Lauren Lackie Associate Alternative Dispute Resolution, Business Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Human Rights, International Arbitration		Ms. Evelyn Perez-Youssoufian Senior Associate Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate Practice, Arbitration, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation
	Ms. Belinda E. Schubert Associate Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate Practice, Arbitration, Business Litigation, Civil Rights

Areas of Law

Additional Areas of Law: Partnership Disputes; Commercial Lease Disputes; Electronic Copying; International and U.S. Judgment Enforcement; Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims; Non-Competition Agreement Disputes; Breach of Contract; Injunctions.

Areas of Law Description

Ellyn Law LLP Business Litigation & Arbitration Lawyers provides comprehensive legal services on the following areas of practice:

- Litigation Services

Sound advice, effective strategy and negotiations and experienced advocacy are the hallmarks of our approach to each case. We understand and apply ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) methods wherever possible to reduce the time and cost of obtaining the best possible result for our client. Our clients expect good results and our mission is to deliver. Canada’s judicial system has many levels. Cases which do not succeed before the first judge usually have a right of appeal on legal and procedural questions, and rarely on factual grounds. Our firm is experienced and knowledgeable in appellate advocacy.

- Business Litigation

Business litigation cases are the core of our firm’s practice. Our expertise extends to an in-depth knowledge of the procedure, strategy and process of dealing with complex business disputes --- the result of many years of “hands-on” experience. Our clients, who include, both individuals and corporations, have retained us in wide variety of business litigation matters, frequently on referral from other lawyers.

- Shareholder, Corporate and Partnership Disputes

Disputes among shareholders and directors of closely-held and medium size corporations are even more common than the corporate disputes that make the front pages of the Financial Post and the Report on Business. Canada is driven by small, closely-held and medium-sized businesses. Frequently, the “partners” have different interests and objectives and these will be in conflict. Canadian and Ontario law offer a broad range of remedies to deal with these matters, including but not limited to “oppression remedy” claims and derivative actions under the Ontario and Canada Business Corporations Acts (“OBCA and CBCA”). The OBCA and CBCA provide remedies for directors, officers and shareholders and comprise issues such as notices of shareholders and directors’ meetings, injunctions, auction of assets, winding up, interim costs, appointment of auditor or inspector. The Court has a broad discretion to grant relief in many forms on a preservation basis, in an interlocutory order or at trial. We are the authors of the Canada chapter of International Liability of Corporate Directors (Juris Publishing). We are also the authors of numerous articles on shareholders remedies.

- Commercial Lease Disputes

Our expertise in commercial leases includes an appreciation of the business of commercial leasing and the litigation and arbitration aspects of it. We have litigated or negotiated or considered disputes relating many aspects of the commercial lease and the Commercial Tenancies Act, including but not limited to: Right of First Refusal; Landlord’s Re-entry; Relief from Forfeiture; Non-Applicability of Residential Tenancies Act; Distress of Commercial Goods; Overholding and Penalty of Double; Landlord’s re-location of tenant to an inferior location; Right of Renewal and terms of exercise; Mortgagee’s Tenancy from Year to Year on Possession; Principles in Goodyear v. Burnamthorpe; Negotiation of rent increases and use of arbitration clause; Ground leases; Tenant’s early abandonment of premises; Enforcement of Guarantees and Personal Covenants; Assignment of Rights.

- Libel & Slander and Defamation

The spread of defamatory words is even easier now that the Internet is commonplace. In some circumstances, the Court will award damages in very large amounts for defamatory statements. In specific cases, an injunction might also be ordered to prevent from further defamation. The lawyers of Ellyn Law LLP understand the law and procedure in defamation and libel and slander cases. We act as counsel on cases involving defamatory statements against business, professional and personal reputations. If you or your business, professional association or other group have been defamed or libeled in a newspaper or broadcast or on the Internet you must act quickly as there are very short limitation periods in some cases. Failure to serve written notice of the intention to make a claim within six weeks of publication of the defamatory words may prevent your or business from pursuing its claim. Notice under the Libel and Slander Act takes time to prepare so an immediate reaction is required.

- E-Commerce & Electronic Copying

The development of cyberspace has created legal problems which did not exist a few years ago. Our rapidly-changing world requires lawyers to adapt to new legal principles. Our firm has accepted this challenge in the relation to the internet and electronic copying. We have represented clients in the following electronic commerce matters and continue to do so: Domain name dispute arbitration under UDRP (Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy) of ICANN; Negotiation of settlement of claim under Federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act; Defense of claims under private copying (blank audio media levy) provisions of Canada Copyright Act; Copyright litigation before Federal Court of Canada; and, Monitoring of private copying decisions and litigation before Canada Copyright Board.

- Construction Law

Construction litigation has many aspects, including litigation of construction disputes, claims under the Ontario New Home Warranty Plan (now TARION), construction lien claims, disputes between owners and subcontractors, arbitration between owners and general contractors, insurance claims. Our firm has acted on many such claims and has represented numerous owners, developers, contractors and also, purchasers in litigation and arbitration matters. Over the last 20 years, Igor Ellyn has been counsel on more than 200 cases involving contractors and builders.

- Employment Law

Many business disputes arise in the workplace. Our lawyers have extensive experience wrongful dismissal cases on behalf of both employers and employees. Our employer clients include manufacturing and distribution companies, automobile dealerships and other business. We have litigated, negotiated and mediated settlements for senior executives and other employees of small, medium and large corporations. We have also acted on complex matters involving non-competition agreements, breach of trade secrets, independent contracts, breach of fiduciary duty involving client lists and related matters. Igor Ellyn has been a speaker at professional conferences on employment law. Some of his articles dealing with employment law issues may be found in our Information Centre, where you will also find Barry Fisher's interesting article on wrongful dismissal mediation. Mr. Ellyn was also counsel on a precedent setting case which was one of cornerstones of the principle of "Wallace damages".

- Insurance Law

Our lawyers have experience in commercial insurance litigation on behalf of insurers and insured. We have acted as counsel on commercial casualty, professional negligence, construction negligence, fire claims, defamation and officers and directors' claims.

- Estates & Trusts Disputes

Igor Ellyn and Orie Niedzviecki act on estate disputes, including contested wills, will interpretation, undue influence, trust claims and other matters in the Estates Court. We have experience in advising on, litigating, negotiating and mediating complex estate disputes. Our experience includes disputes requiring variation of trusts, litigation among siblings, disputes over fictitious wills and mental competency of the testator. We have acted on disputes involving the heirs of the testator. Mr. Ellyn has acted in a dispute involving a will which limited payment to the residuary beneficiary only if she became a widow. As a result of the court procedure we adopted, our client received all of the multi-million dollar estate and an insurance fund was set up for contingent beneficiaries. Mr. Ellyn has also acted on disputes involving rest home operators, disputing siblings, residuary beneficiaries and charities. He has appeared in the Ontario Court of Appeal and in the Supreme Court of Canada in cases involving succession and family law issues. Our clients in estate cases have come from Canada, USA, Europe and Israel.

- International and U.S. Judgment Enforcement

If you have a judgment of an American or other court outside Canada which must be enforced in Ontario or another province of Canada, we have special expertise in this field. We have experience in procedural and jurisdictional questions concerning the enforcement of judgments. We are currently counsel on international judgment enforcement matters in Canada. We have been listed in the Forwarders List directory. Our expertise in various aspects of the law of Ontario enables us to testify in US courts on the status of Canadian law as an expert witness. We also have expertise in the enforcement of arbitration awards, including international commercial arbitration awards under the New York convention. We are the authors of the Canada chapter of Enforcement of Money Judgments (Juris Publishing).

- Alternative Dispute Resolution

In addition to our work as litigation counsel, we provide a broad spectrum of ADR services. ADR, which stands for Alternative Dispute Resolution, is the process by which disputes are resolved without the necessity of trial in court. ADR can take several forms, some of which may precede others:

* Mediation

Mediation is a non-binding, confidential negotiation process in which a neutral third party - the mediator - assists the parties and their counsel to arrive at a complete settlement or at least, to narrow the issues in dispute so that the trial or arbitration will be shorter and less expensive. Mediation has become very popular and is mandatory in many court cases and produces a high ratio of settlements. We act as counsel on mediations in all of our fields of expertise.

* Arbitration

Arbitration is a binding process which takes the place of a trial in court and leads to a final decision which resolves the dispute. The decision-maker - the arbitrator - is an experienced lawyer or a retired judge, who has been selected by the parties and conducts the hearing according to agreed upon rules of procedure. Arbitration is usually faster than a lawsuit and could be less expensive because the parties have better control of the process. We act as counsel in arbitrations in all our fields of expertise. We are the authors of several articles on commercial arbitration.

Affiliations

More Information on Ellyn Law LLP

Toronto, Ontario Business Litigation Lawyers
E-Commerce Law Firm in Toronto, Ontario
Toronto, Ontario Shareholder Dispute Lawyers
Estates Disputes Law Firm in Toronto, Ontario
Toronto, Ontario Commercial Lease Dispute Lawyer
Employment Law Firm in Toronto, Ontario
Toronto International Judgment Enforcement Lawyer
Ellyn Law LLP News and Publications