Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Blog

Canada has two official languages – English and French - arising from our unique heritage as a country.  Given this status, one may have assumed both official languages were freely used in the courts across the country.  Not so says the British Columbia Court of Appeal which recently ruled that documents, not in the English language, without a certified translation cannot be ...

In an earlier blog 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 outrageous conduct.  The case was significant because the court ordered the strata unit sold as the only reasonable means of addressing the problems created by its owners.  The court held that it had ...

On August 26, 2011, I blogged on the British Columbia Supreme Court decision in 229 Burrard Residential Limited Partnership v Essolat (“299”).  299 was seen as levelling the ground for disputes under the Real Estate Development Marketing Act  (British Columbia) (“REDMA”).  This decision increased the likelihood that developers would be able to enforce ...

In an earlier blog I discussed a recent decision that recognized the Supreme Court’s ability, in appropriate circumstances, to order that an individual submit to medical examinations as part of the process of determining whether they were competent.  The case involved lay evidence of possible incompetence but the two medical opinions required under the Patients ...

Agreements to purchase real estate are generally negotiated between real estate agents without the benefit of legal advice.  This can often lead to vagueness when “special” terms are added to the standard form agreements of purchase and sale. A case in point is the recent decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal in Peier v. Cressey Whistler Townhomes Limited ...

I previously wrote on the legal issues faced by developers of residential condominium projects in British Columbia relating to the Real Estate Marketing Development Act (“REDMA”). The focus on REDMA compliance must not, however, distract a developer from focusing on more basic contractual compliance which can also create enforceability issues.  A case in point is ...

Earlier this year, I wrote a short blog on the right of step-children to claim an inheritance from a step-parent or step-grandparents. The upshot was that, absent a specific bequest in the will, step-children do not have a right of inheritance from a step-parent.  This conclusion was recently made even more forcefully by the B.C. Court of Appeal in the decision Peri v ...

The sale of condominiums in British Columbia is a big business.  The financing for the development of these condominiums is often dependant on the successful marketing and sale of the condominium units prior to construction.  These marketing and sale activities are governed by the Real Estate Development Marketing Act (British Columbia) (“REDMA”) which, among ...

The press is riddled with stories concerning perceived problems with the court system.  Various commentators say it is too slow, too expensive and procedurally unwieldy.  These concerns have led some to conclude that arbitration is a better alternative. Arbitration agreements do have risks which parties should understand before agreeing to an alternate form of ...

Ever since the BC Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) decision in Shimco, practitioners and others have cried out for legislative amendments to the B.C. Builders Lien Act (the “Act”) which would see the elimination of a lien against holdback monies retained by owners and others down the contractual chain.  Prior to Shimco, such a lien was not generally thought to exist.  ...