TRANSACTIONS & CASES

Examples of the types of commercial litigation matters McLennan Ross has handled recently include providing:

• Litigation advice to an individual being sued on the representation and warranty provisions in a share sale agreement

• Legal advice to a company attempting to enforce a contractual arrangement that is being denied

• Legal advice in respect of several aboriginal land claims

• Legal advice to a company regarding alleged unauthorized harvesting on an Indian reserve

• Legal advice to a company being sued for losses sustained as a result of a forest fire on public lands

• Legal advice to an individual alleged to have breached his employer's patent policy

Representative examples of McLennan Ross commercial litigation matters include:

Marathon Oil v. Enron Canada
McLennan Ross was successful in representing the Plaintiff in a $93 million action involving the Canadian subsidiary of the Enron organization. Enron alleged that Marathon inappropriately terminated its forward gas contract and ceased supplying gas. After three and a half months of trial, it was found that a Material Adverse Change had occurred which entitled Marathon to give notice of termination. Enron’s arguments were dismissed finding this was not a term of the contract or an established industry practice.

Imperial Oil Limited et al v. The Minister of Environment and City of Calgary
McLennan Ross represents the City of Calgary, a major North American municipality, with respect to one of the largest contaminated site actions in Canada. The provincial regulator initiated regulatory proceedings against Imperial Oil (the Canadian subsidiary of Exxon) as the source of contamination found beneath a residential subdivision.
Imperial sought to include other parties, including the City of Calgary, in the remediation Order. The City succeeded in having Imperial Oil's applications dismissed before a regulatory hearing and that decision was upheld before the courts in judicial review proceedings. This matter is currently before the Alberta Court of Appeal.

Tracy et al. v. Instaloans Financial Solution Centres Ltd. et al.
McLennan Ross is counsel to the Defendants in class action proceedings in the province of British Columbia. Similar class action litigation was also commenced in Alberta and in Ontario, but those proceedings have subsequently been resolved in relation to our clients. The class action alleges that the Defendant payday loan companies are operating unlawfully and claim damages in the tens of millions of dollars. Defence of the British Columbia proceeding continues subsequent to its certification as a class action.

BP Canada Energy Company et al v. Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, Petro-Canada et al
McLennan Ross represented the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board on a number of leave to appeal and judicial review applications arising out of Board orders shutting in over 900 gas-producing wells in northern Alberta. The purpose of the shut-in orders was to preserve related bitumen resources required by the tar sand extraction plants operating in northern Alberta. This case involved gas production valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and the affected bitumen resources were required for multibillion dollar tar sand extraction plants.

Transocean v. Petro-Canada
McLennan Ross successfully represented Transocean, the world’s largest owner of offshore drilling rigs in a dispute with Petro-Canada. The issue surrounded the interpretation of a contract and the valuation of one particular drilling rig working on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The dispute resolution mechanism was the United Nations Convention for Arbitrations (UNICTRAL). Our dispute was heard before a three member panel of arbitrators. Witnesses gave evidence from Houston, St. John’s Newfoundland, Iraq and Norway.

Other Examples:

Represented an oilfield facility operator in a claim against a major pipeline transmission company. Our client alleged that when the pipeline company crossed an oil flow line during construction of a major transmission line, the flow line was not properly supported. The flow line later failed and oil was discharged into the surrounding environment. The pipeline company added companies and individuals involved in the pipeline construction as third parties. The case settled at mediation before trial.
 

Represented a grocery retailer in a dispute with an equipment leasing company. Another party (out of business by the time of these proceedings) had persuaded our client to install video displays in grocery stores on the basis there would be no net cost. When the company went out of business, the leasing company sought payment on its leases for the video equipment. The case settled at a judicial mediation before trial.

Represented a junior oil and gas company, and its major shareholder, in claims brought by the other large shareholder of the company. The claims included breach of an agreement over share ownership and oppression in the management and operation of the company. The litigation was ongoing for four years before our firm was retained to take over the case, and it was settled by direct negotiation on the eve of trial.