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2016
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LEXPERT 13
Coulombe, Marc-André Stikeman Elliott LLP
(514) 397-3395 macoulombe@stikeman.com
Mr. Coulombe provides strategic advice on litigious issues and represents cli-
ents at trial and appeal in his litigation practice, which extends to all areas of
commercial law, including contract law, corporate litigation and shareholder
disputes. He has developed a strong expertise in provisional or extraordinary
proceedings, such as injunctive relief and safeguard orders.
Collins, Paul Stikeman Elliott LLP
(416) 869-5577 pcollins@stikeman.com
Mr. Collins is head of the Competition and Foreign Investment Group. He
specializes in competition law, in both transactional and general compliance
advice. Mr. Collins is also a leading advisor for foreign investors in connection
with the Investment Canada Act. Mr. Collins served at the Competition Bureau
from 2010-2012 as Senior Deputy Commissioner - Mergers Branch.
Cicchetti, Tina Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
(604) 631-4868 tcicchetti@fasken.com
Ms. Cicchetti is counsel and arbitrator in domestic and international com-
mercial and investment arbitration. Her experience embraces M&A, share-
holder, construction and distribution matters in ICC, AAA, ICDR, JCAA, Swiss
and other proceedings.
Chiasson, Craig R. Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
(604) 640-4221 cchiasson@blg.com
Mr. Chiasson is a partner in BLG's Vancouver office focusing on arbitration
and complex commercial disputes. His experience includes as counsel in
proceedings under the rules of the major arbitral institutions, in ad hoc
arbitrations and before the British Columbia courts, and as arbitrator. He has
acted in arbitrations seated around the world and governed by the laws
of many jurisdictions.
Chernos, David Chernos Flaherty Svonkin LLP
(416) 855-0402 dchernos@cfscounsel.com
Practice focuses on corporate and commercial litigation, with an emphasis
on matters involving insolvency, corporate restructurings, income tax, direc-
tors' liability and insurance, estates litigation and shareholders' disputes in
closely held companies. Has appeared as lead counsel before all levels of
court in Ontario, the Tax Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada.
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. His clients
include financial institutions, creditors, debtors, monitors, receivers
and trustees.
LEXPERT-RANKED LAWYERS
chanically signed, the cheques were sent back to
him for distribution. Instead, he deposited them
or cashed them using the accounts he had set up
as sole proprietorships. e total amount of the
fraud, according to court documents, was around
$8 million and involved 63 cheques. When the
fraud was discovered, he was fired.
Banks give customers a set amount of time to
report forged or suspicious cheques, usually 30
or 60 days. e question is, who bears the loss on
forged endorsements? Is it the company on whose
account the cheques were fraudulently issued, or is
it the bank where the fraudulent account was set
up and that collected the cheques?
is winter, the Supreme Court of Canada is
going to be tackling exactly that issue. Teva sued
the banks for "conversion," or the misappropria-
tion of its property, as the employee and his accom-
plices were not entitled to the cheques. e banks
counter-sued, arguing that the cheques were made
out to payees who were non-existent or fictitious,
as defined under the Bills of Exchange Act, which
allows them to treat the cheque as though it were
payable to bearer. e Ontario Superior Court sid-
ed with Teva, the Ontario Court of Appeal with
the banks. e Supreme Court is hearing the case
in February.
It's a perfect illustration of how arcane and out
of step some of Canada's financial regulations are,
says Martin Sclisizzi, a banking litigator at Borden
Ladner Gervais LLP. e Canadian Bills of Ex-
change Act is modelled "almost word for word" on
the 1882 British act of the same name. e only
difference between them, he says, is "the English
have actually updated it from time to time. Our
legislation has not been even tinkered with in 150
years and it is completely out of touch with the re-
ality of cheque clearing."
Where that really comes into play is cheque
fraud, says Sclisizzi (who is acting in Teva for Bank
of Nova Scotia). "ere's been a massive increase
in cheque fraud. Why anybody would ever want
to rob a bank with a gun these days is beyond me
because it's so easy to do it with a pen." Academics
and banking lawyers believe the legislation needs
to be brought into the 21st century, but Sclisizzi
says, "is is for legislators, for Parliament to fix,
which will probably never happen. Parliament's
not interested in that kind of stuff."
Few people are interested in wading into the laby-
rinth of financial regulation unless something
goes terribly wrong. ere are huge numbers of
regulations, and a "whole slew" of regulatory in-
struments, governing the nitty gritty of bank
regulation with respect to particular products,
says Mahmud Jamal, a litigator at Osler, Hoskin &
Harcourt LLP. To list them would not only cause
eyestrain, but eye glaze. e important thing to
