Arbitrations and Appeals of Preliminary Opinions
September 5, 2024 By Brian Babcock An arbitrator has jurisdiction under the Arbitrations Act, 1991 of Ontario to determine whether the arbitrator has jurisdiction as a preliminary matter. This principle is well established. Either party may apply to have the arbitrator’s decision reviewed by a Superior Court judge. The Act goes on to provide that […]
Arbitrations and Appeals of Preliminary Opinions
August 27, 2024 By Brian Babcock An arbitrator has jurisdiction under the Arbitrations Act,1991 of Ontario to determine whether the arbitrator has jurisdiction as a preliminary matter. This principle is well established. Either party may apply to have the arbitrator’s decision reviewed by a Superior Court judge. The Act goes on to provide that an […]
Don’t Be Denied Arbitration
August 15, 2024 By Brian Babcock Despite an agreement to arbitrate, the opposing party might start a court action. What do you do then if you want the dispute to go to arbitration? You apply for a stay of the court action. This is similar to a stay of enforcement of a court order, but […]
Appeal and Arbitration
July 25, 2024 By Brian Babcock Most arbitrations in Ontario are governed by the Arbitration Act, 1991. Some are governed by the International Commercial Arbitrations Act, a topic for another day. THE ISSUE Are you aware of you’re appeal rights if you chose to arbitrate? We see many arbitration agreements where the parties did not […]
Arbitration Clause In Employment Agreement Invalid
February 27, 2024 By Brian Babcock Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (or ESA) provides a complaint resolution process. THE ISSUE As a result, a provision in an employment contract requiring arbitration may be invalid as contravening that Act, which prohibits contracting out of the Act, except to provide a greater benefit. THE CASE The employer in […]
Arbitrators and Bias
December 21, 2023 By Brian Babcock One ground to object to the selection of a decision maker- be they judge, be they arbitrator – is “a reasonable apprehension of bias. When it comes to judges, this is a very high standard to meet, as judicial resources are scarce, and courts hate “judge shopping”. Or maybe […]
Mining Arbitrations Can Be Frustrating
December 14, 2023 By Nick Melchiorre Courts in Ontario will usually defer to arbitrators and are reluctant to second guess their decisions. We have written about this before. ISSUE Where does the court draw the line? Courts will act to ensure that arbitrators apply the correct law, especially on arbitrations under the Arbitration Act 1991 […]
Oppression Remedies, Equity and Arbitration
November 3, 2023 By Brian Babcock Courts continue to defer jurisdiction to arbitrators where parties have agreed to arbitrate. THE ISSUE How far will a court defer where the dispute contains issues beyond claims of breach of contract? THE CASE A recent example at the Superior Court level is Spasiw et al. v. Quality Green […]
It is Your Contract: Arbitration Clauses and Appeal Rights
August 14, 2023 By Nick Melchiorre Arbitration agreements are often overlooked in the drafting and negotiation of contracts. Sure, the agreement may contain an arbitration clause, but frequently, they are added by the lawyers and given little, if any, scrutiny by the parties. THE ISSUE As with any provision in your commercial contract, the arbitration […]
Too Much to Ask Revisited
July 24, 2023 By Brian Babcock THE ISSUE There is a reason why most of our case comment articles feature cases from the Ontario Court of Appeal or even the Supreme Court of Canada. Decisions of the Superior Court of Justice, as much as they can be interesting and informative, are subject to being overturned […]