One Sunday each month we bring you a summary from Supreme Advocacy LLP of recent decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Advocacy LLP offers a weekly electronic newsletter, Supreme Advocacy Letter, to which you may subscribe. It’s a summary of all Appeals, Oral Judgments and Leaves to Appeal granted from Oct. 18 – Nov. 16, 2022 inclusive.

Appeals

Bankruptcy and Insolvency: Arbitration Agreements
Peace River Hydro Partners v. Petrowest Corp., 2020 BCCA 339; 2022 SCC 41 (39547)

The civil claim brought by the Receiver on behalf of Petrowest and the Petrowest Affiliates may proceed. Permitting . . . [more]

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : La déclaration sous serment de l’appelant n’est pas recevable à titre de nouvelle preuve en appel; elle lui permettrait de préciser la version donnée en première instance et de la bonifier en invoquant une dimension culturelle, soit la méfiance qui serait propre aux immigrants haïtiens à l’endroit . . . [more]

Each Friday, we share the latest job listings from Slaw Jobs, which features employment opportunities from across the country. Find out more about these positions by following the links below, or learn how you can use Slaw Jobs to gain valuable exposure for your job ads, while supporting the great Canadian legal commentary at Slaw.ca.

Current postings on Slaw Jobs:a

• Family Lawyer (Full-time) | Langley, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group LLP)
• Senior Conveyancer (Full-time) | Langley, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group LLP)
• Litigation Associate (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Bernard LLP)

Written by Daniel Standing LL.B., Editor, First Reference Inc.

It’s often said that the employer-employee relationship is one that can easily reflect a power imbalance, leading courts to look very carefully at the provisions of employment contracts to make sure they are clear and legally enforceable. Recognizing that employers can take advantage of unsuspecting employees by couching unfair conditions in legalese, courts sometimes resort to the principle of contra proferentem to resolve ambiguity in favour of the weaker party. Other times, they will declare portions of the contract void for running contrary to legislation. A recent decision of Ontario’s Superior . . . [more]

Our U. S. midterm elections are almost over and it looks like things will be getting back to a new normal in Washington, DC. During this tense and contentious season my colleagues at the Law Library of Congress continued to publish excellent legal research information guides and other information.

On November 16^th they announced their Human Rights Day Lecture to be held on December 8^th. “This event will feature a panel discussion concerning two foundational legal documents, Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest.”

On November 7 they posted the November top tips In Custodia . . . [more]

Every semester, upper-year law students in the University of Victoria Faculty of Law’s Business Law Clinic provide free legal information on a variety of business law issues that include, but are not limited to: incorporation, financing, charitable registration, intellectual property protection, partnerships, shareholder agreements, contracts, business liability, taxation, employment relationships, and government regulation.

The Clinic’s services are available to anyone in British Columbia who needs information related to a business law question, regardless of their income or business experience. Each client has one or two students assigned to their file. The students interview the client, help identify the client’s legal . . . [more]

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and French-language cases have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about. La version française suit.

For this last week, the three most-consulted English-language decisions were:

1. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65

[1] This appeal and its companion cases (see Bell Canada v. Canada (Attorney General), 2019 SCC 66 (CanLII)), provide this Court with an opportunity to re-examine its approach to judicial review of administrative decisions.

[2] In these reasons, we will . . . [more]

When it comes to initial consultations for your firm. The ideal conversion rate for turning initial client consultations into clients is not 100%. It’s counterintuitive, I know. It seems like if a potential client shows up in your office who needs the kind of legal help you provide, that it is some kind of failure if they don’t hire you. It feels bad. Like you’ve been rejected.

That’s the wrong way of looking at it. It’s prioritizing an emotional frame over an analytical one. You’d think we, as lawyers, wouldn’t often prioritize emotions over analysis, but when it comes to . . . [more]

Evidentiary considerations remain critical from the earliest stages of the case so one cannot competently undertake a litigation file without a thorough understanding of the rules of evidence, as interpreted by current case law. This knowledge will allow you to shape the strategy of your civil case and maximize the odds of a favourable outcome, whether or not the matter proceeds to trial.

The law and best practices concerning evidence are continually evolving. As a litigator, it is critical to not just keep on pace but to stay ahead of emerging issues.

Now in its 17^th year, Osgoode’s celebrated . . . [more]

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : La demande en déclaration d’invalidité constitutionnelle de la règle de common law établie par l’arrêt R. c. Ladouceur (C.S. Can., 1990-05-31), SOQUIJ AZ-90111050, J.E. 90-905, [1990] 1 R.C.S. 1257, et de l’article 636 du Code de la sécurité routière est accueillie; avec le temps, le pouvoir reconnu . . . [more]

Written by Daniel Standing LL.B., Editor, First Reference Inc.

The beginning of Prince Hamlet’s soliloquy may have had a nicer ring to it, but the above title captures the essence of the issue in a recent British Columbia decision. In British Columbia (Director of Employment Standards) v. Kwok, [2022], the Court of Appeal sheds light on the limitation period that applies to a determination of the Director of that province’s Employment Standards Branch filed with the Supreme Court registry. Forced to choose between three options, the court settled on the longest one, a 10-year limitation period. As it turns . . . [more]