Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Blog

Restrictive covenants are commonly used for a wide variety of reasons.  They can ensure access across property or be part of a wider community plan.  They can define the use land can be put to or protect it for a singular purpose.   They are intended to be a commitment that runs with the land rather than just an obligation or benefit for the current owners.  There is no standard form of ...

This is a vexing question. It generally arises when a rogue has made off with money or assets having perpetrated a fraud and has left behind two or more equally innocent victims. As between those victims, who should bear the loss?

Earlier this week, the Alberta Court of Appeal weighed in on just such a case. The short answer is that the court will look to the statutory rights of the ...

In the recent case of Carter v. Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada declared invalid the Criminal Code prohibitions against physician-assisted suicide.  Those provisions made it a crime for a person to “consent to have death inflicted on him” (s. 14) and to “aid or abet a person to commit suicide” (s.241(b)).  The SCC found this blanket prohibition was a breach of the ...

A promissory note is a written promise by a borrower to pay a sum of money to a lender upon the occurrence of an event, usually a demand for payment.  Promissory notes are often used by friends and family members to record loans made between them.  No one expects there to be problems at the outset and all are sure the loan will be repaid at some point.  But how long do promissory notes ...

Regrettably, this appears to be a case where the office of the Director of Civil Forfeiture has taken zealous measures outside the proper bounds of its home statute with the unfortunate effect of depriving a citizen of lawful possession and use of her property, putting that citizen to what I suspect is considerable expense and inconvenience to retrieve her property.

Those ...

It is common for contracts to contain exclusion clauses limiting the liability of one party in the event of a breach.  Professional service providers often seek to limit their liability to the fees paid to them.  Movers limit their exposure to the value of the goods transported.  Contracts for the sale of land generally cap a purchaser’s remedy for breach to the return of the ...

British Columbia has 28 Supreme Court registries scattered around the eight judicial districts (known as “counties”) being Cariboo, Kootenay, Nanaimo, Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Victoria, Westminster and Yale.  Ordinarily, a civil claim or petition can be commenced in whichever of those registries the claimant chooses.  However, for some types of claims there are ...

One of the most exasperating aspects of civil litigation for clients is the issue of court ordered costs. Ordinarily, the party that wins a case is entitled to have their “costs” paid by the other side. The court’s ability to award costs is discretionary and, as a result, often difficult to predict.

There are, generally speaking, two types of costs awards: “party and ...

Most commercial leases contain terms that require tenants to pay additional rent. Additional rent is usually a share of the costs and charges incurred to operate the property. These costs can include municipal taxes, insurance premiums, repair and maintenance costs and common area utility charges. In any given year, these charges change and fluctuate.  Landlords often ...

Governing and managing a strata property can be messy and difficult. Strata owners are generally a disparate group with little in common beyond ownership in the strata. From among this group, a strata council must be elected, usually all volunteers who, to one degree or another, are reluctant participants and untrained in strata governance. Yet, it is the members of the ...