Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Blog

In Earthco Soil Mixtures Inc. v. Pine Valley Enterprises Inc., 2024 SCC 20, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) clarified the requirements to contract out of statutory conditions under the Sale of Goods Act, RSO 1990, c S.1 (“SGA”).

The decision may be relevant to exclusion clauses more broadly, including sale of goods legislation in other provinces. The key ...

The International Bar Association (the “IBA”) recently published an updated version of the Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration (the “Guidelines”).

The 2024 updates to the Guidelines address an arbitrator’s relationship with experts and co-arbitrators, public statements related to cases, failure to disclose conflicts, a ...

Vancouver International Arbitration Centre’s (“VanIAC”) new International Commercial Arbitration Rules of Procedure (the “New Rules”) came into effect on July 1, 2022. In this post, we summarise what you need to know about the New Rules.

The New Rules are a significant update to the previous version of the international arbitration rules, which were last ...

On Monday, June 13, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on whether 28 U.S. Code § 1782(a) (“s. 1782”) permits US district courts to order discovery in aid of foreign private arbitration proceedings.

In ZF Automotive US, Inc., Et al. v Luxshare Ltd. (“ZF Automotive”), the court decided that s. 1782 does not allow US district courts to order discovery for ...

Earlier this year, we wrote about how questions about the applicable standard of review of arbitral awards had been re-opened by two decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”), Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov^[1] (“Vavilov”) and Wastech Services Ltd. v. Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District^[2] (“Wastech”).

On ...

In May 2021, the total value of cryptocurrency globally surpassed USD $2.5 trillion, and continues its emergence as a new asset class.^[1]

Governments in Canada and around the world are updating regulatory requirements in response to the new innovations in financial technologies.

Historically, there has been regulatory uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrencies in ...

For several decades in Canada, the court has applied the deferential standard of “reasonableness” when reviewing arbitral awards - subject to a narrow set of exceptions.

When applying the reasonableness standard, a reviewing court will show deference to the reasons of the decision-maker and uphold the award so long as the award falls within a “range of reasonable ...

September 1, 2020 was a historic day for domestic arbitration in British Columbia for three reasons:

• The BC International Commercial Arbitration Centre changed its name and became the “Vancouver International Arbitration Centre” (referred to as “VanIAC”);
• The province’s new Arbitration Act (the “New Act”) came into force; and
• VanIAC’s updated ...

In a decision released on June 26, 2020, Uber Technologies Inc. v. Heller 2020 SCC 16, the Supreme Court of Canada (the “SCC”) found invalid the arbitration clause in Uber’s standard form service agreement with its drivers in Canada, requiring that they arbitrate their disputes in the Netherlands. This decision paves the way for Uber’s drivers to proceed with a ...

On September 1, 2020, a new Arbitration Act, S.B.C. 2020, c. 2, (the "New Act") will come into force in B.C., which will repeal and replace the current Arbitration Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 55 (the “Current Act”).  The New Act will apply to arbitral proceedings commenced on or after the date it comes into force.

This is the first major overhaul since the Commercial ...