Ellyn Law LLP

This an excerpt of the Canada chapter of International Liability of Corporate Directors, 2nd ed., Juris Publishing, Feb. 2013. Parts of the full chapter are excluded, including, offering corporations, corporate reporting, role of securities commissions, insider trading, prospectus violations, loans and liability insurance and indemnification. Please consult the full chapter. Information only not legal advice.

This summary of Civil Litigation Procedures was prepared on the on the occasion of the 2012 Annual Conference of the International Network of Boutique Law Firms in Rancho Palos Verde, CA on Oct 12-14, 2012. The law and procedure are similar but not identical in the Canadian common provinces and territories but differs in Quebec which has a Civil Code. This summary is not exhaustive and is not intended as legal advice.

With the proliferation of international commercial arbitration and business arbitrations locally, a large body of rules, protocols, laws and conventions - formal and informal -- have developed. Litigation lawyers cannot assume they know the ins and outs of arbitration without learning how the details. This article reproduces the power point slides of a presentation made by the author at an Arbitration Advocacy seminar in October 2012. They are for information only and not legal advice.

International commercial arbitration is the most common method for resolving disputes arising from agreements between businesses from different countries. In this presentation, the author describes the systems and procedures applicable to international commercial arbitration and helps business people understand what to expect.

The authors discuss the impact of an important decision of the Ontario Superior Court concerning an arbitrator’s jurisdiction to make orders affecting non-parties and related matters. Also discussed is the enforcement of an award under section 50 of the Arbitration Act.

Persuasive advocacy involves juggling many balls at the same time. Counsel must develop a plausible theory of the case. S/he must consider what evidence is available and how it should be led. Argument about inferences to be drawn from the evidence and law must be crafted to present the client’s case persuasively. In this informative article, litigation counsel Igor Ellyn and Belinda Schubert explain how this is most effectively done.

In a recent decision, Justice Perell of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, ruled that an arbitrator lacks jurisdiction to affect rights of non-parties. The arbitrator also lacked jurisdiction to grant an ex parte protective injunction. The arbitrator’s order was unenforceable.

In Canadian courts, arbitration agreements are broadly interpreted and if a dispute could arguably fall within the scope of an arbitration clause, the court should refer the parties to arbitration. Courts should permit the arbitrator to determine if the claim falls within the scope of the arbitration clause. However, that doesn't mean there is no litigation over arbitration clauses.

When advising business clients about doing business in Canada, lawyers must turn their minds not only to the kinds of corporate vehicles which Canadian law permits but also the vailable remedies if disputes arise. This paper highlights the remedies available in common law jurisdictions of Canada to protect shareholders and others from abusive corporate action, including oppression remedy, derivative actions, court-ordered meeting, investigations and winding up.

In the enlightened age of mediation, more than of 90% of all lawsuits eventually settle. Good counsel must now see the pleadings in a different light. The Statement of Claim or Complaint is a very useful marketing tool. If drafted with its audiences in mind, it can go a long way to help achieve a good settlement. The authors are experience business litigation lawyers in Toronto, Canada.

Assessing the prospects of success on appeal and winning on appeal are among the most difficult aspects of an advocate’s role. Losing party’s counsel is confronted with human and analytical challenges which can be more complicated than the events which led to the unsatisfactory trial judgment, jury verdict, arbitral award or tribunal decision. Winning counsel has to deal with the possibility of reversal.

What the Courts decide affect the lives of many citizens. In this interesting article, the authors review the most important decisions decided by Canadian courts between September 2008 and August 2009.

Courts in Ontario, Canada, where more than one-third of Canada’s population resides, are very receptive to the enforcement of final and conclusive foreign money judgments is subject to certain statutory exceptions and procedural requirements. The authors detail the law and procedure relating to the enforcement of foreign jdgments in Ontario, Canada.

An article in Canadian Law Times discusses a hotly-contested shareholder dispute.

This article is for information only and not legal advice. The author discusses the enforcement of foreign judgments in Canada. This article was originally presented in French at the Conference of the Association of French Speaking Lawyers of Ontario (AJEFO) in Niagara Falls, Ontario, June 4, 2004. It has been translated into English by the author. The content is still current to 2009.

This article discusses issues affecting disputes among shareholders of private corporations in Ontario, Canada. The authors are partners of a Toronto law firm which focuses on litigation, arbitration and resolution of shareholder and other business disputes.

There is tension in international arbitration between party autonomy and mandatory laws of a jurisdiction connected to the dispute. Party autonomy may be trumped by mandatory laws of a particular jurisdiction. These slides were part of Igor Ellyn's presentation at a March 2008 legal conference in New York called “Perspectives on International Labor and Employment Law”, hosted by the New York State Bar Association and Cornell University, ILR School.

As a business owner, you are usually run off your feet with the challenges of operating your business. The last thing you need to worry about is a legal problem. Many business people put off dealing with a legal problem because they don’t know where to turn, don’t have the time, or most often, are afraid of how much it will cost and how much time it will take. The authors give tips on how to get legal advice efficiently.

The authors, explain how a Business Legal Checkup ("BLC") can be useful. BLC is a diagnostic tool small and medium size businesses can use to verify if legal aspects of their operation comply with law and to minimize risk, litigation and expense. When the BLC is completed, the business owner receives a lawyer’s report red-flagging matters which need correction, improvement or further legal advice. Contact the authors for more information.

In Canadian courts, arbitration agreements are broadly interpreted. If a dispute could fall within the scope of an arbitration clause, courts refer the parties to arbitration. Despite judicial clarity, a plethora of litigation over the scope of arbitration clauses exists. The author, a senior business litigation and arbitration counsel in Toronto, Canada and a chartered arbitrator discusses the current state of the law.

When doing business in Canada, remedies to resolve shareholder disputes re very important. 

Enforcement of Judgments across international borders is an important element in international commerce. In this article discuss the state of the law in Canada In Beals v. Saldanha, 2003 SCC 72, the majority of the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the "real and substantial connection" test applied to the enforcement of judgments from jurisdictions outside Canada. 

The authors are commercial litigation appellate lawyers in Toronto, Canada. Relying on experience and anecdotal research in commercial appeals, they conclude that at the root of appeals from judgments in commercial cases is the burning question, "Does the result make sense from a business perspective?” The paper demonstrates that in commercial appeals, the Ontario Court of Appeal generally operates on the principle of “commercial reasonableness”.