ADR
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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June 12, 2025
Group urges Ontario to allow for restorative justice in sexual violence cases
A global organization promoting alternatives to the criminal legal system for survivors of sexual violence is urging the Ontario government to change a policy that makes sexual violence cases ineligible for community justice programs.
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June 11, 2025
Ontario Court of Appeal upholds lower court decision denying Amazon drivers’ $250M class action
In a victory for Amazon Canada, the Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court decision rejecting a proposed $250-million class-action lawsuit against the online retailing giant by 73,000 delivery drivers over alleged breach of employment contracts.
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June 10, 2025
Canada’s top judge declares ‘in this country, the rule of law is non-negotiable’
Lawyers, as officers of the court, have a professional “responsibility and obligation” to defend the rule of law and the independence of the bar and judiciary against attacks, Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner said at his annual news conference in Ottawa.
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June 10, 2025
N.W.T. court stays legal proceedings in favour of arbitration, despite unsigned contract
A Northwest Territories Supreme Court judge has sent a construction dispute involving the Inuit land settlement authority to arbitration, even though the contract stipulating arbitration was never signed.