FEATURED CASES

Oswald v. Start Up SRL, 2021 BCCA 352
Ken McEwan, K.C. and Saheli Sodhi, on behalf of the respondent, were successful in upholding the trial decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. This case concerned the enforceability of a two-page memorandum of understanding. There was a substantial, complicated, and often conflicting body of evidence before the trial judge requiring significant findings of ...
Este v. Esteghamat-Ardakani, 2021 BCCA 78
In this case, Ken McEwan, K.C., Emily Kirkpatrick and Kyle Thompson, on behalf of the appellants, successfully obtained a costs award and opposed the respondent’s request for reconsideration of the appeal in Este v. Esteghamat-Ardakani, 2020 BCCA 202. The appellants argued that there was no procedural or substantive basis to reconsider the prior appeal, while ...
Ravvin v Canada Bread Company Limited, 2020 ABCA 424
Emily Kirkpatrick and William Stransky were successful on behalf of the respondent, Kimberley Marie Pfaff, in upholding a decision of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench. The action underlying the appeal was one of twelve proposed class proceedings across Canada commenced against a group of retailers alleging a price-fixing conspiracy involving packaged bread. Ms. Pfaff, ...
British Columbia (Securities Commission) v. Liu, 2020 BCCA 338
Ken McEwan, K.C. and Laésha J. Smith successfully sought leave to appeal a Commission decision dismissing Mr. Liu’s application to set aside or vary freeze orders issued against his real and personal property pursuant to s. 151 of the Securities Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 418. The  Court of Appeal determined that the appeal raises issues ...
Owners, Strata Plan LMS 3905 v. Crystal Square Parking Corp., 2020 SCC 29
The case concerned a dispute over the obligation of a strata corporation to pay for parking as provided for in an agreement that had been executed at the time of the property’s development (before the strata existed). At trial, the court had rejected Crystal Square’s argument that the strata was bound by any agreement. On ...
Oei v. Hui, 2020 BCCA 214
The application and appeal concerned the tort of abuse of process the elements on which had long been the source of uncertainty in the province. Ken and Emily successfully argued that a plea of “knowing falsity” cannot be relied upon to transform a proper claim into an improper one and that to do so would, ...
Este v. Esteghamat-Ardakani, 2020 BCCA 202
The application below was made by one registered tenant in common against the other to compel demolition and rebuilding of a home on the jointly-owned property.  The Court of Appeal ruled that the chambers judge had erred in both fact and law in granting the injunction, concluding that – given their relationship as co-tenants – ...
Copper North Mining Corp. v. Granite Creek Copper Ltd. 2019 BCSC 2272
On December 3, 2019, Ken McEwan, K.C., Samantha Chang, and Will Stransky successfully opposed an application for an interlocutory injunction and obtained costs of the application payable in any event of the cause. The dispute involved two mining companies which had entered into a confidentiality and standstill agreement in contemplation of a potential plan of ...
Yi Teng Investment Inc. v. Keltic (Brighouse) Development Ltd. 2019 BCSC 2197
In Yi Teng Investment Inc. v. Keltic (Brighouse) Development Ltd., Ken McEwan, K.C., Emily Kirkpatrick, and Samantha Chang, acting on behalf of the developer Keltic, succeeded in its application to strike the plaintiff’s amended notice of civil claim and successfully opposed the plaintiff’s first application to amend its pleadings. Keltic brought an application to strike ...
Yi Teng Investment Inc. v. Keltic (Brighouse) Development Ltd., 2019 BCCA 357
The appeal related to Keltic’s successful application under s. 215 of the Land Title Act to discharge a certificate of pending litigation filed by the plaintiff against Keltic’s residential and commercial development project. The plaintiff alleged that it entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Keltic for a portion of the commercial space in ...
Plaza 500 Hotels Ltd. v. Millgate Limited et al., 2019 BCSC 1295
On July 30, 2019 Ken McEwan, Q.C, Laesha Smith and Kelly Ann Maw successfully opposed an application for a mandatory injunction and obtained costs of the application payable forthwith for their client. On the application, the plaintiff sought an injunction against two of the defendants to compel them to execute agreements required for the plaintiff ...
Manning v. Dhalla, 2019 BCSC 1067
Ken McEwan, K.C. was recently successful in having the British Columbia Supreme Court grant a rare mistrial order, in a judge-alone trial and following reasons for judgment had initially been issued: Manning v. Dhalla, 2019 BCSC 1067. In the underlying litigation, the plaintiffs claimed that the defendant referred them to a Ponzi scheme while concealing ...
The Owners, Strata Plan LMS 3905 v. Crystal Square Parking Corporation, 2019 BCCA 145
As appeal counsel, Ken McEwan, K.C. and Emily Kirkpatrick were successful in arguing that the decision of the trial court declaring a parking agreement entered into between a developer and the plaintiff strata’s predecessor in title was unenforceable and should be overturned. While, for reasons given in the companion case of The Owners, Strata Plan ...
Este v. Esteghamat-Ardakani, 2018 BCCA 290
At the close of the plaintiff’s case at trial, Ken brought a combined no-evidence and abuse of process application on the basis that the plaintiff’s position claiming beneficial ownership of assets she had previously disclaimed in a family proceeding constituted an abuse. A unanimous division of the Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge’s decision. ...
Kriegman v. Dill, 2018 BCCA 86
The Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the Supreme Court setting aside the registration of a judgment of a Washington  State Court against the respondent for over $1,550,000.  The judgment was in respect of returns received from a cross border Ponzi scheme engaged in by a third party and centered in Spokane, Washington.  The ...
Basha Sales Co. Ltd. v. Adera Equities Inc., 2017 BCSC 137
The claim was dismissed after a summary trial.  Ken McEwan, K.C. was previously successful in the same action in having a certificate of pending litigation on the adjacent lands set aside: Basha Sales Co. Ltd. v. Adera Equities Inc., 2017 BCSC 94. Subsequently, in Basha Sales Co. Ltd. v. Adera Equities Inc., 2017 BCSC 1715., ...
Arkansas Teachers Retirement System v. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., 2016 BCSC 432
Ken McEwan, K.C. and Emily Kirkpatrick successfully defeated a shareholder application to bring a derivative action against current and former directors and officers of Lions Gate.  The proceeding arose out of circumstances surrounding the attempted takeover of Lions Gate by Carl Icahn in 2010. Ken McEwan, K.C. previously acted for bondholders in the underlying proceedings ...
Sun-Rype Products Ltd. v. Archer Daniels Midland Company, 2013 SCC 58
The case was awarded the National Impact Case of the Year by Benchmark and was one of the top 10 litigation cases of the year as listed by Lexpert.  See Sun-Rype Products Ltd. v. Archer Daniels Midland Company, 2013 SCC 58...

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