Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/1484268
2 www.lexpert.ca Editorial fortuna favet fortibus ISSUE 23.04 > NOVEMBER GLOBAL MANAGING EDITOR Tim Wilbur SENIOR EDITOR Zena Olijnyk EDITOR Aidan Macnab PRODUCTION PROCESS LEAD Alina Leigh PRODUCTION EDITORS Wen-Ching Shang, Christina Jelinek WRITERS Bernise Carolino, Jason Tan, Angelica Dino, Kiezzsa Cruz, Lucy Saddleton DESIGNERS Khaye Cortez, Loiza Razon PRESIDENT Tim Duce BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Lynda Fenton SENIOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Steffanie Munroe BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Maurice Phillips ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Matthew Oriel Lexpert Special Edition Magazine is published four times a year. KEY MEDIA and the KEY MEDIA logo are trademarks of Key Media IP Limited, and used under licence by KM Business Information Canada Ltd. LEXPERT is a trademark of KM Business Information Canada Ltd. KM Business Information Canada Ltd 317 Adelaide Street West, Suite 910 Toronto, ON M5V 1P9 Tel: (416) 609-8000 Fax: (416) 609-5840 Website: www.lexpert.ca All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. Lexpert® Magazine is printed in Canada. PUBLICATION MAIL REGISTRATION NO. 41261516. ISSN1488-6553 Copyright© KM Business Information Canada Ltd All rights reserved. GST/HST#: 79989 8465 RC-0001 EDITORIAL INQUIRIES tim.wilbur@keymedia.com SUBSCRIPTIONS/ADDRESS CHANGES Contact: Donnabel Reyes at (647) 374-4536 ext. 243 or email donnabel.reyes@keymedia.com. Annual subscription costs C$175. To change your subscription address, please send your new address along with a copy of your mailing label(s) to the Subscription Dept., at the address indicated above. For all other circulation inquiries, please email Donnabel Reyes. M ost businesspeople hate litigation and would prefer to focus on running their businesses. e cost, slowness, and lack of confiden- tiality when fighting in court make alternatives welcome. "e use of ADR generally produces a resolution more quickly than using a court system that can be backlogged," says Rachael Saab at Torys LLP (p. 16). Michelle Awad at McInnes Cooper says the pandemic made the potential advantages of ADR even more apparent, especially as technolog y for remote proceedings offered even more flexibility (p. 16). Even mundane technolog- ical developments can make ADR seem more appealing. Lawrence acker at Lenczner Slaght LLP says international arbitration rules oen have a "well-thought-out" system for numbering and ordering documents, making it easier to put together a hyperlinked electronic record (p. 20). But the fact that court proceedings are so public is one of the biggest reasons many businesses want to steer clear. "ere are sometimes cases where both sides don't want anything in the public realm, so they'll agree to arbitrate," says acker. But therein lies the rub. Because ADR occurs behind closed doors, only the parties to the dispute benefit from the results. In this issue, we also provide the top ten business decisions (p. 26), which represent how courts are providing not just resolutions for the parties but also precedents for Canadian business. Our list of top cases includes a class action against CIBC for overtime pay, a decision on whether plaintiffs should receive an injunction against "Freedom Convoy" defendants who were attempting to dissipate funds, a request to approve a remediation agreement for SNC-Lavalin, and a corpo- rate governance question in the Rogers family dispute. ese cases will not just provide a resolution to the parties. Publicly reported decisions can help businesspeople who face similar circumstances avoid a fight. is advantage may be cold comfort for those involved in protracted liti- gation. We should not expect businesses to help develop the law. But as any litigator would attest, sometimes a public dispute is the only option. e litigators in these pages can help their clients decide when that time has come – and if it has, how to achieve the best results. Tim Wilbur, global managing editor Sometimes litigation is the best choice