Commercial arbitration is a significant part of our practice. David Gruber, will be participating in CPD events at CanArbWeek next week and on June 9, he will be part of a panel discussing recent trends in costs allocation in various Canadian jurisdictions, factors that lead tribunals to depart from the full indemnity principle, and practical pointers for counsel and arbitrators when preparing costs submissions and awards.
Potential topics include:
- Recent trends in allocating costs.
- Factors that may cause arbitrators to award less than full indemnity and factors that may lead to parties bearing their own costs.
- Conduct of parties/counsel during proceedings that may impact costs awards.
- The impact of settlement offers on costs awards.
- Timing of asking parties for submissions on costs: just before issuing the final award or after issuing the final award?
- Expectations regarding the amount of reasoning/detail in cost awards: judicial standard, summary determination, or something in between?
- What to do when there are dramatic differences in parties’ costs submissions.
- Mechanisms are available to challenge arbitrator costs.
May 21, 2026