WWW.LEXPERT.CA
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2018
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LEXPERT 11
Chernos, David Chernos Flaherty Svonkin LLP
(416) 855-0402 dchernos@cfscounsel.com
Mr. Chernos's practice focuses on corporate and commercial litigation,
with an emphasis on matters involving shareholders' disputes in closely held
companies, estates litigation, insolvency, corporate restructurings, income
tax, and directors' liability and insurance. He has appeared as lead counsel
before all levels of court in Ontario, the Tax Court of Canada,
and the Supreme Court of Canada.
Cherniak, QC, Earl A. Lerners LLP
(416) 601-2350 echerniak@lerners.ca
Mr. Cherniak is a domestic and international commercial arbitrator and
senior counsel with wide experience in appellate advocacy, professional
responsibility, insurance litigation, and constitutional and administrative law.
Charette, Louis Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P.
(514) 877-2946 lcharette@lavery.ca
Mr. Charette practises in the areas of civil and professional liability litigation,
product liability and transportation law and infrastructure, and aviation
law. In his product liability practice, he acts in defence of manufacturers,
distributors and vendors. In September 2017, he was inducted as a Fellow
of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Chaiton, Harvey G. Chaitons LLP
(416) 218-1129 harvey@chaitons.com
Mr. Chaiton's insolvency practice emphasizes domestic and cross-border
receiverships and restructurings, including insolvency litigation. He regularly
represents court officers, secured and unsecured creditors, debtors,
directors and other stakeholders in these proceedings. He is a member
of the Insolvency Institute of Canada.
Chadwick, Robert J. Goodmans LLP
(416) 597-4285 rchadwick@goodmans.ca
Mr. Chadwick focuses on corporate, banking, private equity, insolvency,
reorganizations and related litigation and M&A on national, cross-border and
international matters. Represents a diverse client group including debtors,
monitors, noteholders, industry regulators, governments, private-equity firms,
and lenders in high-profile restructurings across Canada's key
industry sectors.
Carr, Brian R. Thorsteinssons LLP
(416) 855-6549 bcarr@thor.ca
Mr. Carr has extensive experience in a wide variety of corporate tax issues
with special emphasis on resource taxation, tax litigation and corporate
reorganizations. He is a former Chair of the Canadian Tax Foundation, a Past-
Chair of the National Taxation Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association
and former co-Chair and Member of the CBA/CICA Joint Committee
on Taxation.
LEXPERT-RANKED LAWYERS
their intellectual property or other secrets were
publicly disclosed.
Many disputes arise because of commercial
agreements gone wrong. "e commercial agree-
ments are oen not public," says Hussey. "ere is
no inherent reason why the resolution of the dis-
pute must be public. e value of certain forms of
intellectual property — trade secrets, for example
— can be compromised or destroyed by virtue of
being publicized. Reputations can be compro-
mised during litigation. Sustaining this kind of loss
should not be a requirement for attaining justice."
Where parties are both seeking a quick, inex-
pensive result, arbitration offers an array of signifi-
cant benefits, mostly around flexibility of process.
Litigation oen takes a long time partly because it
is made up of a set of steps that must be completed.
But in arbitration, parties design their own pro-
cess. If they decide that certain steps are unneces-
sary, those steps can be removed.
"If they don't want discovery, they can agree
they don't need it," explains Berg. "If they want an
oral hearing, they can have an oral hearing. If they
want a hearing in writing, because, say, they want
to get it done in 30 days, they can do that too."
e important thing when it comes to design-
ing the process is that parties choose counsel with
a good understanding of arbitration and how best
to take advantage. Not only can the process be cus-
tomized, parties can also choose the arbitrator.
"Decision makers you select can have better ex-
pertise, so you know what you're getting a bit more
than with judges on the Bench," says Bombier.
Since arbitrators are chosen for their special exper-
tise in industries or business practices, disputants
don't face the same risk as they do with judges on
the Bench that the decision maker has insufficient
knowledge to make a good decision. On top of
that, they are probably more interested in getting
to a decision quickly because their interests are
aligned with the parties, adds Bombier.
Newcomers to arbitration are sometimes put off
by the finality of the process. is is another im-
portant difference compared to litigation. In the
vast majority of cases, arbitration decisions can't be
overturned. e process does not allow for appeals.
is can be highly attractive for businesses operat-
ing in fast-paced industries that need to move for-
ward quickly, but parties need to trust the process
and accept decisions.
Canadian courts haven't always been so reluc-
tant to revisit arbitration decisions, but over the
last decade the courts, particularly the Supreme
Court of Canada, have issued a series of deci-
sions that essentially put a fence around arbitra-
tor decisions.
"e courts will stand back and not interfere
with decisions by an arbitrator unless there is a
clear error of law," says Murray Clemens, a Part-
