ADR
-
August 01, 2025
Contractual limitation period inapplicable as referee decision arrived after deadline, court rules
The Ontario Court of Appeal has overturned a lower court decision that barred Ontario from challenging a referee’s award in a highway contract dispute, ruling the contractual limitation period did not apply as the referee decision was released after it had expired.
-
August 01, 2025
Claudette van Zyl Joins Woods
Woods has welcomed Claudette van Zyl to its team.
-
July 30, 2025
Appeal over workplace termination dismissed, arbitration upheld
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal in an employee termination case after a workplace injury, finding that the arbitrator had wide jurisdiction to hear claims.
-
July 29, 2025
Court allows appeal in favour of arbitration in $100K employment bonus dispute
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has overturned an order dismissing a stay application in an employment case, finding that the issues relating to over $100,000 in alleged unpaid bonuses are subject to arbitration.
-
July 16, 2025
Dentons stands by its commitment to inclusion as it navigates trade volatility, say CEOs
These are “interesting times” to be one of the world’s largest law firms. With about 5,900 lawyers across more than 80 countries, Dentons is helping clients navigate some of the worst economic volatility in decades and generational technological change as it carefully works to protect its own flanks from a U.S. administration that’s frequently been hostile to the legal sector. Global CEO Kate Barton said that while several major U.S. law firms have been targeted by President Donald Trump — particularly those perceived as opposing him or representing his adversaries — Dentons has managed to avoid the administration’s scrutiny by maintaining a bipartisan approach.
-
July 14, 2025
Procurement ombud urges parties to mediate issues in federal construction contracts
The Office of the Procurement Ombud (OPO) has released a new research study that examines recurring issues regarding the administration of federal construction contracts.
-
July 11, 2025
Choosing a mediator/arbitrator: Balancing expertise v. bias
Choosing a mediator/arbitrator with subject-matter expertise requires extra care to avoid potential conflicts arising from existing professional relationships between the arbitrator, parties’ counsel and experts.
-
July 10, 2025
Thirty days to trigger mediation: A deadline or a minimum waiting period?
Multitiered dispute resolution clauses — also known as “step clauses” — are common in commercial contracts containing agreements to arbitrate. Especially in sectors like construction, architecture, engineering and professional services, parties often agree that disputes must first go through informal negotiation, then mediation, before finally proceeding to arbitration.
-
July 03, 2025
Court: B.C.’s new arbitration ban doesn’t apply in Rogers customer dispute over $1M hacking loss
In one of the first tests of British Columbia's amended consumer protection law, the B.C. Supreme Court has allowed a bid by telecom giant Rogers to block court action in favor of arbitration in a case where a customer’s phone was hacked, allegedly resulting in her losing an estimated $1 million in Bitcoin. The court found that the amended legislation, which prohibits mandatory arbitration clauses and class action waivers in consumer contracts, did not apply retroactively despite a transitional provision.
-
June 16, 2025
SCC clarifies how to determine child’s ‘habitual residence’ in non-Hague Convention custody disputes
In upholding an Ontario Superior Court’s assumption of jurisdiction over an international custody dispute, the Supreme Court of Canada has given guidance on how courts should determine the habitual residence of children allegedly wrongly taken or withheld by a parent from a foreign jurisdiction that has not signed onto the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention).