Commercial litigation

Our experienced corporate/commercial litigators routinely represent their clients with disputes in the following areas:

• contracts;

• employment;

• shareholder agreements; 

• oppression remedies;

• intellectual property 

• franchises;

• leases; 

• trusts, involving corporate and family interests; 

• bankruptcy and insolvency; and

• “bet the company”-type disputes including class actions and takeover bids. 

We also step in when our clients need help with injunction applications and other proceedings which require an immediate and coordinated litigation response, such as requests for trade secret injunctions, Anton Pillar and Mareva injunctions and receivership applications.
Our lawyers also have experience in product liability and tort litigation and trademark disputes.

Insurance defence and subrogation

For many years, our lawyers have acted for numerous property and casualty insurers. They retain our firm to represent their insureds (both individuals and commercial entities) in various types of litigation. These include personal injury claims, products liability, automobile accidents, occupier’s liability and construction disputes.

Both Stephen Cavanagh and Heather Williams have been selected by their peers for inclusion among the “Best Lawyers in Canada” in the area of Insurance Law. Stephen Cavanagh has also been included among LEXPERT’s “Leading Practitioners” in the field of “Litigation—Commercial Insurance”.

For several years, Stephen Cavanagh taught insurance law at the University of Ottawa Law School.

Public and administrative law

Our lawyers know administrative law.
  
We have represented clients in judicial review proceedings before the Ontario and federal courts and have appeared before both Ontario and federal administrative tribunals.
 
We also handle appeals. We have provided advice and advocacy at all appellate levels, including leave applications and appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Our lawyers frequently act in disciplinary matters on behalf of professionals and in all aspects of professional liability and regulation.
 
We have appeared as counsel at public inquiries, including the Somalia, Arar and Cornwall inquiries.  We also appeared as litigation counsel for the Government of Canada in investor trade dispute proceedings under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

We advise corporate clients in respect of procurement matters, including responding to requests for proposal, defending or contesting awards of contracts and disputes that arise during the performance of the contract either with the owner of the project or with sub-contractors.

We have represented clients before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal.

Our lawyers are also well-versed in constitutional issues and Charter litigation, including challenges to the constitutionality of legislation, defamation actions and publication bans.

Supreme Court of Canada agency

CWCB’s team of senior litigators includes former SCC clerks and can add value at every step of your most important cases. Let us help you frame your application for leave to appeal in a way that will attract the Court’s interest. Or did the Court of Appeal get it right? If so, we can help you convince the Supreme Court that no further appeals are necessary. Are your clients’ interests affected by an upcoming SCC appeal? We can help you get leave to intervene, so that their perspectives and interests are heard and considered by the Court. Our fresh set of eyes on your factum will give you and your clients full confidence that your arguments will have the very best chance of success. From a logistical point of view, our experienced SCC paralegals can help you from start to finish with quick answers to all your practical questions.

Business and Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency Litigation

CWCB lawyers have represented secured creditors, unsecured creditors, receivers, trustees in bankruptcy and corporate debtors in many of Ottawa's most recent and complicated business and corporate restructuring litigation.  Our lawyers represented the senior secured creditor of the Corel Centre in the restructuring litigation of the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club.  Our lawyers represented US owners of a large health food manufacturing enterprise in successful restructuring under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, the secured creditor and receiver in a successful contested receivership application of an Eastern Ontario manufacturing plant and a debtor airline company in insolvency proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.  Our lawyers are experienced in both the substantive and procedural aspects of court proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, the Personal Property Securities Act, the Trustee Act, and the Winding-up and Restructuring Act.

Insurance coverage

Our firm often advises both insurers and insureds on issues of insurance coverage. We maintain a very complete library of Canadian and American works, dealing with specialized aspects of coverage disputes. Our lawyers have acted as counsel in a number of leading coverage cases, such as:

• Laurencine v. Jardine (duty to defend and insured’s right to appoint defence counsel)

• Zurich Canada v. Fortin (cancellation of policy)

• prairieFyre Software Inc. v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. (advertising injury)

• Lacombe v. Don Phillips Heating Limited (anti-subrogation)

• Ideal Roofing Company v. Royal & SunAlliance Insurance (duty to defend)

• Harlon Canada Inc. v. Lang Investment (waiver of subrogation)

• Appin Realty v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company (anti-concurrent causation)

• Stokes v. Desjardins groupe d’assurances generales (trust provisions of s. 267.8(9) of Insurance Act)

Professional liability

To come

Disciplinary and regulatory matters

To come

Patent and trademark litigation

To come

Personal injury litigation

To come

Information and privacy

To come

Employment law

To come