Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Blog

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

Most of us were taught this maxim at an early age. But while the fundamental principle behind this saying holds true today, the reality is a little more complicated, especially with current technology. Now, with a single cellphone, practically anyone can publish their opinions online for the entire world to see. This has led to the ...

Earlier this month, the B.C. Court of Appeal rendered its decision in West Van Holdings Ltd. v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company, 2019 BCCA 110 – a case which considered whether insurers can rely on certain exclusion clauses to deny or preclude coverage for environmental contamination and pollution claims.

The two insured entities, West Van Holdings Ltd. and West Van ...

Introduction

In Vancouver Community College v Vancouver Career College (Burnaby) 2017 BCCA 41, the British Columbia Court of Appeal found that Vancouver Community College (“VCC”) had established the tort of passing off against Vancouver Career College (“Career College”) for using “VCC” and “VCCollege” as part of Career College’s internet ...

The recent decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal in Chriscan Enterprises Ltd. v. St. Pierre, 2016 BCCA 442, reminds those who elect to resolve their business disputes through arbitration that decisions of the arbitrator, even those touching on the fairness of procedures, will generally be final and not subject to review by the courts. As the Court noted, the ...

In several earlier posts I discussed a B.C. Supreme Court decision involving problem strata owners who had, for years, defied efforts by the strata council to moderate their poor conduct.  The court ordered the sale of the strata unit as the only practical means to bring an end to what was described as “outrageous conduct."  The Court of Appeal allowed the owner’s first ...

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 ...

Some time ago I blogged about the decision in B.C. (Director of Civil Forfeiture) v. Wolff.  That case was something of a setback for the Director of Civil Forfeiture who had sought forfeiture from Mr. Wolff of his $52,000 truck.  In November 2005, Mr. Wolff was arrested for possession for the purposes of trafficking.  As a “favour”, Mr. Wolff was transporting a duffle bag of ...

On October 2, 2012, I blogged about court intervention in shareholder proxy contests in British Columbia.  One of the cases referenced was a petition brought by TELUS to quash a meeting of TELUS’s shareholders requisitioned by an American hedge fund, Mason Capital Management LLC (“Mason Capital”).  This meeting was requisitioned in an attempt to block a merger of ...

Based on a recent B.C. Court of Appeal decision, Greater Vancouver Water District v. North American Pipe & Steel Ltd., the answer is yes. This case serves as a clear direction to the construction community that the courts will hold contractors to the specifications and warranties they give about the services and products they intend to supply to purchasers. This is good news ...

In recent years it has become increasingly common for commercial contracts to include arbitration clauses requiring disputes that arise under the contract to be resolved through arbitration rather than by recourse to the court process.  Such clauses are also very prevalent in partnership agreements as they allow partners to resolve disputes in a relatively quick and ...