Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Blog

Frequently, sales contracts contain exclusion clauses that insulate a seller from responsibility for the condition of the goods being sold. The buyer gets a product they think is of a certain quality and, when they find out it is not, these clauses prevent any recourse against the seller. However, if the purchaser can establish that the nature of the defect was serious or that ...

Earlier this year, I blogged about the civil forfeiture case of B.C. (Director of Civil Forfeiture) v. Wolff.  That appellate decision set guidelines for the trial courts on what and how to consider the “interest of justice” when faced with a forfeiture claim.   It confirmed the “dominant principles” of proportionality and fairness in weighing whether to order ...

In my January 2012 and July 2012 blog posts, I discussed the ongoing saga of the Jordisons, arguably the epitome of strata owners from hell.  For a period of years, the Jordisons continually behaved in an obnoxious and outlandish manner towards their neighbors.  To try to stop them, the strata council levied fines totaling over $20,000 for their ongoing and flagrant ...

Landlords, tenants and law students all wrestle over what it means for something to be a fixture as opposed to a chattel.  It matters to landlords because, at the end of a tenancy, fixtures can become their property and enhance the land value. It matters to tenants because they risk losing valuable assets installed on the premises as part of their business.  It matters to law ...

In October 2011 I wrote about the BC Supreme Court decision in Federation of Law Societies of Canada v. Canada (Attorney General), 2011 BCSC 1270 in which the Court held that provisions of the federal Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and related Regulations were constitutionally inapplicable to lawyers.  Specifically, the Court held that ...

On March 2, 2013, the Emergency Intervention Disclosure Act, S.B.C. 2012, c. 19, was quietly enacted.  This statute had been on the books since 2012 but not in force.  The purpose of the Act is to authorize the involuntary sampling of bodily fluids where those samples are not being offered voluntarily.  For example, it covers situations such as a police officer or medic being spat ...

In the realm of Canadian human rights law, few topics have generated as much discussion and controversy in recent years as the “hate law” provisions found in many human rights statutes.  These provisions typically prohibit the publication of statements that have or are likely to have the effect of exposing a person or class of persons to ridicule and hatred.

Defenders of ...

On March 7, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada issued an important decision regarding the obligation of public authorities to compensate private landowners in circumstances where public infrastructure construction has interfered with the private use and enjoyment of land.  In doing so, the Court ruled that a court must weigh the overriding public good occasioned by the ...

Despite the intentions of a testator and the best drafting skills of their lawyer, there are often occasions when there is an ambiguity or apparent error in the resulting will.  These can be anything from small typographical mistakes through to directly conflicting descriptions of a testator’s assets, beneficiaries or wishes.  The difficulty for an executor is trying to ...

On January 29, 2013, Chief Justice Robert Bauman of the BC Supreme Court released his decision (2013 BCSC 98) rejecting an application by the BC Auditor General for sweeping access to information and documents relating to the provincial government’s payment of legal fees on behalf of Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk, two former government employees charged with criminal breach of ...