Waiver of liability for damage to a vintage yacht undergoing repairs at RVYC. In a recent British Columbia Supreme Court decision – Pattison v. Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, 2026 BCSC 747 – the Court determined whether the yacht club was liable for damage to a vintage vessel that collapsed from the club’s lift. Facts The…
This case, from the world of indoor rock climbing, involved a dispute over made in B.C. software and hardware. In a recent Supreme Court of British Columbia decision – Aurora Climbing Inc. v. Kilter, LLC, 2026 BCSC 290– the Court had to determine whether British Columbia was the appropriate forum in a breach of contract…
In a recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision – CIMIC Morningstar Investments Ltd. v. Chandos Construction Ltd., 2026 BCCA 2– the Court had to determine whether a developer had a right to appeal an arbitrator’s decision ordering the developer to pay its contractor over 6 million dollars in damages. The Court decided there was…
Ms. Brink was the Chief Revenue Officer for ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp., a Canadian designer and manufacturer of electric vehicles. Readers may be familiar with the three-wheeled single-seat vehicle called “SOLO”. In 2024, ElectraMeccanica was acquired by Xos, Inc. – a manufacturer of electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks based in Los Angeles, California. After the end…
In Parolin v. Cressey Construction Corporation, 2025 BCSC 741, Ms. Parolin was an 18-year employee of a Vancouver real estate development and construction company, Cressey. She joined the company in 2005, and by 2018, as Director of Marketing, she earned $93,600, with promises of further salary increases. Ms. Parolin had a flexible work schedule since…
In a recent British Columbia Supreme Court decision – Emadi v. Soleymani, 2025 BCSC 1178 – the Court had to determine the appropriate remedy in a shareholder dispute as to the future ownership of a company. Under a “shotgun” sale order, the judge ordered the petitioner to make the first offer to buy out the…
In Bao v. Welltrend United Consulting Inc., 2025 BCCA 3, unscrupulous immigration consultants forged a lawyer’s signature on 20 applications to Nova Scotia’s Economic Provincial Nominee Program (NSNP). A Beijing-based immigration firm, the defendant Welltrend, made an agreement with Bao, a Canadian lawyer (not the author), for the lawyer to represent the firm’s clients in…
In a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision – Pepa v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 SCC 21 – the Court heard an appeal by Ms. Pepa of a removal order. The Supreme Court of Canada held that even if a person’s permanent resident visa has expired at the time of the order, as long…
For a contract to be enforceable, a signature is not always a requirement. However, there are exceptions, such as contracts respecting land – a typical contract for purchase and sale of a residential property, as an example. A recent decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia – Ross v. Garvey, 2025 BCSC 705 –…
After termination of the plaintiff’s employment, the employee sought to avoid payment of taxes on a wrongful dismissal settlement. In Canada, tax is always deductible on a “retiring allowance”, and severance paid as a settlement is a type of retiring allowance. EMV Automotive USA Inc. (“EMV”) had offered the plaintiff, among other terms: (1) a…
