Canada Case Law

SLP Holdings Ltd. (Re)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Court granted recognition of the two U.S. Bankruptcy Court letters of request and ordered compliance subject to the Trustee's undertaking to narrow the temporal scope; the Trustee must pay reasonable costs to third parties for production, including administration costs with a ceiling of $1,000 for ISL's administrative compliance estimate and counsel preparation/attendance costs for the hearing, and issues of attendance costs at depositions are to be assessed in light of relevant U.S. procedural rules; the same costs approach applies to Aspect; clarifying terms recorded orally are effectiv…

Source excerpt

• Letters of request
• Third-party production of documents
• Costs allocation for third-party production
• Recognition of foreign bankruptcy court orders

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United States Security and Exchange Commission v. Sharp

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court varied a Mareva injunction to let Jackson T. Friesen access frozen funds for living costs and legal fees, holding he need only show no non-frozen assets were available.

• Mareva injunction
• Variation of injunction
• Asset disclosure
• Legal fees
• Disgorgement
• Preservation orders

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The Resolution and Collection Corporation v. Nishiyama

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court waived confidentiality for a third-party examination in aid of execution and held that the judgment creditor did not have to pre-disclose which documents it would use.

• Implied undertaking of confidentiality
• Discovery (oral and documentary)
• Waiver of confidentiality
• Document production prior to examination
• Rule 13-4 examinations
• Mareva injunction/asset freezing

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Walter Energy Canada Holdings, Inc. (Re)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court held that the 1974 Plan’s claim against the Canadian entities was governed by Canadian corporate-status law, not ERISA, and therefore failed.

• Choice of law
• Erisa controlled-group liability
• Withdrawal liability
• Exterritoriality
• Public policy review
• Summary determination of claims under ccaa

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Nortel Networks Corporation (Re)

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Leave to appeal was denied because the moving parties failed to show prima facie merit: the trial judge made central factual findings (integrated global operations, R&D jointly creating IP, MRDA as transfer-pricing document) supported by evidence; his legal conclusions (pro rata allocation, not substantive consolidation) engaged mixed fact-law matters entitled to deference; granting leave would cause undue delay and expense.

Source excerpt

• Allocation of sale proceeds
• Substantive consolidation
• Contractual interpretation
• Procedural fairness
• Pension claims

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Armoyan v. Armoyan

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

Respondent cancelled the settlement conference after the court-imposed filing deadline, failed to comply with directions and failed to appear for a scheduled conference; under Rules 59.39, 10.11-10.12 and 77.09 the judge exercised discretion to award indemnification; the court awarded petitioner CAD 9,996.38 in costs payable by respondent subject to specified set-offs.

Source excerpt

• Settlement conference
• Failure to comply with court directions
• Disclosure obligations
• Set-off of costs
• Judicial discretion

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Pope & Talbot Ltd. (Re)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court records and summarizes a U.S. Bankruptcy Court ruling that found non-exclusive jurisdiction, abstained from the coverage dispute, and lifted the stay for insurer participation.

• Anti-suit injunction
• Discretionary abstention
• Jurisdiction/exclusive jurisdiction
• Insurance coverage dispute
• Automatic stay
• Forum shopping

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Pope & Talbot Ltd. (Re)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court ordered XL Specialty Insurance to pay special costs after it filed a broad U.S. complaint without informing the Canadian court or raising its stay concerns earlier.

• Jurisdiction
• Forum non conveniens
• Choice of law
• Directors and officers liability
• Automatic stay (us bankruptcy)
• Special costs

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Placer Dome Inc. v. Ruzzo

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court held that a settlement agreement was binding and ordered specific performance, but declined relief relating to Nevada proceedings.

• Settlement agreement formation
• Specific performance
• Release
• Letter of reference
• Wrongful dismissal
• Jurisdiction and foreign proceedings

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Powerex Corp. v. Alcan Inc.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court adjourned enforcement of a foreign arbitral award pending U.S. appeal proceedings, but ordered security and payment into trust to protect the award creditor.

• Adjournment pending foreign set-aside proceedings
• Security pending appeal
• Model law implementation
• New york convention enforcement
• International-arbitration
• Foreign-arbitral-awards

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