Lawyers who refer clients to other professionals or advisors should act competently, prudently and diligently in making such referrals. – #55

Factual Background

Before 2002, Mr. Thompson and his wife, Mrs. Thompson had been operating restaurant franchises in Ontario and Quebec. They have established four companies for the purpose of operating the restaurants (“Companies”). In 2002, they sold all of their restaurant franchises but one. With that one exception, the Companies remained owners of the real estate only.

In 2003, Mr. Thompson passed away. Mr. Thompson left two wills, in which he created three trusts for his grandchildren and one trust (“Trust”) for most of his assets, including his shares in the Companies. The wills named Mrs. Thompson as the income beneficiary of the Trust until her death. The wills also named Mrs. Thompson, Mr. Gemmill (Mr. Thompson’s lawyer in Ontario) and Mr. Miller (brother-in-law of Mr. Thompson) as the trustees and executors under the wills. The capital of the Trust was to be distributed to the children of the couple after Mrs. Thompson’s death. The purpose of this arrangement was to provide Mrs. Thompson with financial security while preserving the capital for the children.

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Au Québec, lorsqu’il s’agit d’apprécier la validité de la sentence arbitrale, le tribunal va rechercher si la sentence elle-même contrevient à des dispositions d’ordre public. – #54

Dans l’arrêt Perreault c. Groupe Jonathan Benoît, 2021 QCCS 1350, l’honorable Peter Kalichman rejette la demande en annulation de la sentence arbitrale et accueille la Demande d’homologation. Cet arrêt nous rappelle que pour annuler une sentence arbitrale ou s’opposer à son homologation au motif qu’elle est contraire aux dispositions d’ordre public, une partie doit faire plus que simplement démontrer que l’arbitre a commis une erreur dans son application des règles d’ordre public. Dans l’arrêt Desputeaux c. Éditions Chouette (1987) inc., 2003 CSC 17, la Cour suprême nous enseigne que la partie doit démontrer que la sentence arbitrale elle-même est incompatible avec l’ordre public.

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Leave to Appeal Refused When the Arbitral Tribunal Empowered by ICC Arbitration Rules Bars Late-Raised Legal Argument for Procedural Fairness – #53

This post aims to summarize part of the analysis in the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta’s decision on TR Canada Inc v Cahill Industrial Limited, 2021 ABQB 274.

Factual Background

In August 2014, TR Canada Inc. (“TR”) was awarded a contract to be the general contractor responsible for the construction of two gas turbine generators and two heat recovery steam generators, which are connecting to the Fort Hills electrical system.

TR subcontracted the physical work to Cahill Industrial Ltd. (“Cahill”). Cahill was required to perform the “balance of plant works”, which included the electro-mechanical erection works of the project. The terms of the subcontract between TR and Cahill referred the disputes between the parties to arbitration.

A number of disputes arose between TR and Cahill during the project. Those disputes related to coordination and sequencing of the various subcontractors and works, as well as changes and additions to the scope of work.

On December 4, 2018, the pleadings of the arbitration proceeding between TR and Cahill commenced.

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Law of Trusts in Ontario: The Creation of Joint Account Represents an Inter vivos Gift of the Right of Survivorship? – #52

This article intends to analyze how to determine the actual intention of the ageing parent who opens a joint bank account with his or her child in Ontario by summarizing the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on Pecore v. Pecore, 2007 SCC 17. These types of joint accounts are used by many Canadians for a variety of purposes, including estate-planning and financial management. As joint bank accounts are widely used among the family members in Canada, the courts are often requested to determine the intention of the parent who opens the joint bank account in order to decide who has legal right for the balance remaining in the account at the date of death of the parent. The common question is whether the parent intended to make a gift of the beneficial interest in the accounts upon his or her death to the child who holds the joint account or whether the parent intended that this child holds the assets in the accounts in trust for the benefit of his or her estate to be distributed according to the will.

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L’affaire Specter Aviation c. Laprade : L’état de jurisprudence justifie la permission d’appeler d’un jugement concernant l’autonomie de la clause d’arbitrage – #51

Cet article vise à résumer un jugement récent rendu par l’honorable Monsieur le Juge Bachand de la Cour d’appel du Québec concernant l’autonomie de la clause d’arbitrage (Specter Aviation c. Laprade, 2021 QCCA 183).

Les faits pertinents

En avril 2012, M. Laprade, World Aircraft Leasing Inc. (ci-après « WAS ») et United Mining Supply (ci-après « UMS »)  signent « l’Avenant au protocole d’accord USM Aviation établi en avril 2012 ». M. Laprade et World Aircraft Leasing Inc. (ci-après « WAL ») assoient leur droit de propriété dans l’avion de type Beechcraft Super King Air 300 (ci-après « l’Avion Beechcraft 300 »). L’Avenant contient la clause suivante :

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Family Patrimony and Trusts in Quebec: Whether Family Residence Acquired by Trust is Included in Family Patrimony – #50

This post aims at summarizing the Supreme Court of Canada’s majority reasoning on Yared c. Karam, 2019 CSC 62.

Factual Background

In October 2011, Mr. K established a trust to protect their family’s assets for the benefits of his wife, Mrs. Y and their four children. The trustees are Mr. K and his mother. The initial beneficiaries were Mrs. Y and their four children. The trust conferred extensive powers of “Appointer” on Mr. K: 1) the power to appoint new beneficiaries, including himself; 2) the power to destitute any beneficiaries; and 3) the power to decide to which beneficiaries and in what proportion the revenues and capital of the trust would be paid.

In June 2012, the trust acquired a residence with funds transferred by the spouses. Then the family moved in the new residence. Mr. K stated that the house would serve both as the family residence and as an investment protected under the trust for the benefit of his children.

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L’évaluation de la perte de revenus futurs en matière de responsabilité civile : Le calcul au point d’incapacité est incompatible avec les méthodes approuvées par la jurisprudence à la suite de la trilogie de 1978 – #49

En matière de responsabilité civile, la victime a droit à des dommages-intérêts en réparation du préjudice futur lorsqu’il est certain et qu’il est susceptible d’être évalué (Art. 1607 et Art. 1611 C.c.Q.). Or, il est souvent difficile de quantifier la perte de revenus futurs subie par la victime. Il convient de rappeler que l’évaluation de la perte de revenus futurs doit être fonction de la preuve et non consister en un système basé sur une valeur définie par le pourcentage d’incapacité partielle permanente (Maison Simons inc. c. Lizotte2010 QCCA 2126). L’existence d’une incapacité partielle permanente ne se traduit pas nécessairement par une perte de capacité de gains futurs. Cet article vise à introduire brièvement l’évaluation de la perte de revenus futurs en matière de responsabilité civile. Il est important de noter que les faits suivants sont fictifs et ont été créés par l’auteur afin d’établir un contexte propice à l’analyse.

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lululemon v. ICP: The Standard of Reasonableness will Generally Best Serve to Preserve the Autonomy of the Forum Selected by the Parties and to Minimize Judicial Intervention – #48

The yoga practitioners must have heard of lululemon. Indeed, headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, lululemon is the high-end yoga-focused chain featuring stylish athletic wear and accessories. It sells its products in retail stores and directly to consumers through their online platforms. Industrial Color Productions Inc. (“ICP”) is a professional media production company located across the USA. ICP provided professional media production services and photography for lululemon’s e-commerce platforms since October 2017. However, in May 2019, lululemon notified ICP that it intended to terminate the Agreement. Their contractual disputes were brought to the arbitral tribunal seated in Vancouver, Canada. In April 2020, the arbitrator rendered his award, requiring lululemon to pay to ICP, inter alia, an amount of US$1,081,967 and applicable interest as the damages for breach of contract. lululemon seeks to set aside this portion of the award before the Supreme Court of British Columbia as it claims that the arbitrator went beyond the scope of the submission to arbitration in making an award that ICP did not plead during the arbitral hearing (lululemon athletica canada inc. v Industrial Color Productions Inc., 2021 BCSC 15).

This court decision reminds us that the standard of reasonableness and not correctness will generally best serve to preserve the autonomy of the forum consensually selected by the parties and to minimize judicial intervention. It points out that although the Ontario courts applied standard of correctness on reviewing question of jurisdiction in The United Mexican States v. Burr, 2020 ONSC 2376 and Mexico v. Cargill, Incorporated, 2011 ONCA 622, a commercial dispute involving two private companies is “foundationally different than” an investment dispute between a state and foreign investors. In addition, Mr. Justice Funt noted that the parties’ expectations as to the completeness of the arbitrator’s reasons should be less than those of the parties engaged in the commercial litigation before the judicial tribunal.

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Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Award: Maritime Court of China Recognized and Enforced a Singaporean Award which Awarded Interest that the Party Did Not Claim – #47

Factual Background

On 14 September 2014, Emphor FZCO (“Emphor”) signs a shipbuilding contract (“Shipbuilding Contract”) with Guangdong Yuexin Ocean Engineering Co., Ltd. (“Yuexin”) for the purchase of a 60.6 meters anchor handling tug supply vessel. They agree that Yuexin should fulfil its delivery obligations on or before March 3, 2016 and that if Yuexin fails to fulfill its delivery obligations due to the force majeure, Emphor can terminate the contract after an excessively delayed delivery of over 210 calendar days. As a consequence, Yuexin should refund all payment for bookings and pay the interests at an annual rate of 6%.

On December 3, 2013, their Contract comes into effect.

On October 10, 2016, as Yuexin fails to fulfil its delivery obligations, Emphor notifies Yuexin that Emphor is going to terminate the contract. Moreover, Emphor also requests Yuexin to refund US$ 2,780,000 that Emphor has prepaid for the vessel and the interests to Emphor.

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Débats de juridictions : Les tribunaux québécois ont-ils compétence pour prononcer le divorce des parties qui se marient dans un autre pays ? – #46

Je travaille au sein d’un cabinet d’avocats qui se consacre au droit international de la famille depuis 1957. Notre équipe à Montréal a joué et continue de jouer un rôle important dans l’évolution du droit international privé impliquant diverses juridictions et, par extension, l’application des lois étrangères. Cet article vise à introduire brièvement l’application de l’article 3135 du Code civil du Québec en droit de la famille. Il est important de noter que les faits suivants sont fictifs et ont été créés par l’auteur afin d’établir un contexte pour l’analyse.

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