On a recent motion before the Court of Appeal in Paulpillai Estate v. Yusuf, 2020 ONCA 655 (CanLII), Jamal J.A. clarifies that a party needs to bring a motion if it wants the proceeding to be referred to arbitration. In the underlying decision, Paulpillai v. Yusuf, 2020 ONSC 851 (CanLII), the motion judge noted that the responding parties “have maintained in their affidavit evidence that the matter should have proceeded by way of arbitration, but at no time did they bring a motion seeking to stay these proceedings or to compel the Applicants to proceed by way of arbitration”. Accordingly, the motion judge found that the responding parties have waived their right to seek to have the issues in the action determined by way of arbitration. In agreement with the motion judge, Jamal J.A., writing for the Court of Appeal, clarifies that, even though (a) there was an arbitration clause … Read More
Moving Litigation to Arbitration | Arbitration Option in Times of COVID-19
Click Here for our Webpage on Moving Litigation to Arbitration Access to Justice The courts in Ontario continue to address access to justice in the time of the coronavirus, providing a triage process to determine which matters are considered urgent and should be heard. Video conference arrangements in the courts are evolving. We are mindful that both criminal and family law matters are likely to take priority both now and when traditional hearings become available post-coronavirus. Moving Litigation Forward Through Arbitration If you, or your clients, are contemplating civil or commercial litigation by court-based process, because the governing agreement does not provide for arbitration (the so-called pre-dispute arbitration agreement), you should be aware that, except in very limited exceptions, those engaged in a dispute, can nonetheless agree to resolve their disputes by arbitration, whether post-dispute, mid-dispute or when court-based litigation is otherwise being contemplated or on-going. The roster of arbitrators … Read More