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Below are this week’s summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal.

Congratulations to our very own Bill Anderson for succeeding on our client’s appeal in Holmes v. Hatch Ltd., 2017 ONCA 880.

In this Employment law decision, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal from the motion judge’s decision granting summary judgment against our client on the basis that the motion judge was not at liberty to find liability on a legal theory that was not pleaded by the plaintiff and which our client did not have an opportunity to properly address in the evidence.

In this post-Stern opinion (the “Opinion”), the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (the “Court”) addresses two main issues with respect to the approval of nonconsensual third-party releases provided for in a chapter 11 plan of confirmation, namely whether a Bankruptcy Court has (1) subject matter jurisdiction to approve, and (2) the constitutional authority to grant such releases. Opinion at 2.

Since February 2016, the Local Rules for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware provide for combined hearings on approval of disclosure statements and confirmation of plans and for the use of combined disclosure statement and plans in liquidating chapter 11 cases.

A topic that receives relatively little attention is the practice of plan proponents to include “death trap” provisions in chapter 11 plans. A death trap provision can provide for a distribution, or a larger distribution, to an impaired class in exchange for a favorable vote on the plan.

In a decision released on November 17, 2016, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the holding of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court, affirmed by the District Court, that EFIH is not required to pay make-whole payments. In re Energy Future Holdings Corp., 16-1351, _ F.3d _ (3d Cir. Nov. 17, 2016).

Summary of Facts

There were four substantive civil decision released this week. The first, Sturino v. Crown Capital Corporation is a priority dispute in the receivership context. The second, Iroquois Falls Power Corporation v. Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation involved a motion to stay a Superior Court order pending the determination of a leave application to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada (the stay was denied). The third, Silva v.

Hello everyone,

The Court of Appeal has released a variety of cases this week dealing with such topics as wrongful dismissal, bankruptcy and insolvency, pensions, real estate, and residential landlord and tenant. The most notable decision by far this week is the Groia v. The Law Society of Upper Canada decision in which the court dismissed the member’s appeal from his conviction for professional misconduct. Apparently, according to the Toronto Star, Mr. Groia will be seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, so this long-running saga is not over yet.

Hello everyone,

The Court of Appeal had a busy week and released a number of civil decisions, many of which were procedural in nature – extension of time, leave to appeal, limitation periods, Rule 21. One of these procedural decisions was in the Nortel case, in which the court denied leave to appeal Justice Newbould’s trial decision, apparently bringing the matter substantially closer to a conclusion.

Have a nice weekend.

John Polyzogopoulos

Civil Decisions