Litigation: International Perspectives for your Canadian Practice

Date: Thursday, May 4, 2023 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
Location: 200-20 Toronto Street, Toronto ON 

International and cross-border considerations frequently arise for Ontario lawyers while advising their clients today, often in unexpected places. Clients may have assets, vendors, suppliers, customers, data or business partners located outside of Canada’s borders. The legal implications and risks associated with this reality can be significant and widespread. Get up to speed on the key topics you need to know with this valuable conference. Whether you are a solicitor or litigator, our expert faculty will share practical and timely insights to ensure you are ready to confidently advise your clients on how to navigate the challenges, opportunities and actualities of a global world.

Plus meet and gather best practices and helpful insights from lawyers around the globe in our unique series of roundtable sessions. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind event. If you practice in a large or small firm, as a sole practitioner or corporate counsel, this conference is for you! Register now!

Thursday, May 4, 2023

  • Enhancing Client Experience
  • Civility
  • Crypto Winter – The Fall of Crypto Currency?
  • Sanctions
  • Climate Change

Speakers

Martha Harrison, McCarthy Tétrault LLP
Liane Langstaff, Gowlings WLG
John Le Blanc, Chief Legal Officer, Figment Inc.
Judith McKay, McCarthy Tétrault LLP
K. Scott McLean, Mann Lawyers LLP

Panelists will discuss the unique challenges and legal issues arising from cross-border disputes, including:

  • International Disputes: going to arbitration vs. going to court
  • Pros and Cons of Arbitration
  • Drafting Arbitration clauses and pitfalls to avoid
  • Differences in US vs. Canada

Speakers and Moderator

Jeffrey D. Coren, Phillips Lytle LLP
Samantha Green, Fogler, Rubinoff LLP (Moderator)
Rahat Godil, Fasken
Hugh Meighen, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP 
Robert Wisner, McMillan LLP   

Panelists will discuss current trends and developing issues in environmental disputes across borders, and key cases to watch on either side:

  • History of cross-border environmental litigation and where we are today
  • Overview of foundational and key cases
  • Transmission and infrastructure development and their impact in this area of law
  • Climate litigation based in tort and human rights
  • Duty to consult with Indigenous groups
  • How cross-border entities coordinate remedial action plans
  • Greenhouse gas (GHG) pricing litigation

Speakers

Albert Engel, Folger Rubinoff LLP
Giselle Davidian, Willms & Shier Environmental Lawyers LLP
William F. McLaughlin, Hodgson Russ LLP
Heather McLeod-Kilmurray, uOttawa Law
Kristi M. Ross, Barrister and Solicitor (Moderator)

In 2022, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a New York state law prohibiting the public carry of firearms without a license an applicant could only get by showing a specific, elevated need for self-protection. The Court decided that the statute contravened the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This opinion, and subsequent interpretations of it by lower federal courts, demonstrate an increasing tendency by federal courts to constitutionalize non-constitutional questions, whether these are more usually addressed by elected branches of government or by courts adjudicating questions beyond the purview of the constitution. The types of reasoning to which the current U.S. Supreme Court resorts in deciding these non-constitutional questions easily becomes arbitrary, sometimes quite overtly so. This dynamic - the constitutionalization of non-constitutional questions and concomitant degradation of judicial reasoning - is not necessarily peculiar to the United States and may be evident in the Canada.

Speaker
Dr Heidi Li Feldman, Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center

Join our expert panel as they discuss the evolving cyber risk landscape and the strategies that can be implemented to avoid and mitigate the risks, including:

  • Overview of current threats and risks from both US and Canadian perspectives
  • Current litigation trends and notable legal developments on both sides of the border
  • Role of a lawyer in a cyber breach incident
  • Reporting cyber breaches
  • Recoupment of assets

Please note: this session will not be recorded

Speakers

Curtis Allen, Director Canadian Association of Police Governance
Patrick E. Fitzsimmons, Hodgson Russ LLP
Ryder Gilliland, DMG Advocates LLP
Grace C.Y. Leung, Sr. Claims Specialist, AXIS (Moderator)
Amanda Pike, Special Agent FBI

Panelists will discuss what to focus on when crossing the border to find your witness, obtain discovery, or enforce a court order, including:

  • Letters Rogatory – framework, procedure and requirements
  • General differences between the jurisdictions
  • Judgment enforcement and recognition:
    • What’s enforceable and what’s not
    • Burden on plaintiff and defendant
    • Process of executing a judgment in Canada vs. US
    • Notable legal developments in US and Canada

Speakers and Moderator

Peter Henein, Henein Hutchison Robitaille LLP
Laurie MacFarlane, Managing Counsel Litigation, CIBC
William Newman, Oberheiden P.C.
Teodora Obradovic, Fogler, Rubinoff LLP (Moderator)
Sabrina Saltmarsh, Gilbertson Davis LLP

  • 4-Day Work Week
  • Regulatory Sandboxes for Legal Innovation
  • The Billable Hour
  • Multi-Disciplinary Practice
  • Post Pandemic Transition / Law Firm Cultural Transformation

Speakers

Quinn Ross, The Ross Firm
Deborah Enix-Ross, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; President of American Bar Association
Anthony Quevillon, Director of Legal Services, Hub6
James Teufel, Georgetown University and Law Society of Ontario
Brent Turner, Thomson Reuters

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