News + Insights

AGB partner, Robert Stellick, has written for the Spring 2024 edition of Keeping Tabs, a publication of the Young Advocates' Standing Committee (YASC) of The Advocates' Society. Robert's article addresses the recent rise of motions permanently staying proceedings for failing to disclose a partial settlement to the non-settling parties. 

The underlying common law rule states that a settlement reached between some but not all of the parties to a proceeding that "changes the litigation landscape" must be "immediately" disclosed to the Court and non-settling parties. Failing to do so is deemed an abuse of process, for which the only available remedy is a permanent stay of the non-disclosing party's proceeding.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario's relatively recent revival of the rule and its strict application has made engaging in partial settlements risky business. Robert's article reviews the history of these motions in Canada, the beginning of their strict revival by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Handley Estate v. DTE Industries Limited, and provides instructive guidance on how to avoid the rule's draconian consequences. The article concludes with some optimism, noting that help may be on the way. Courts and policymakers appear increasingly keen on reining in its harsh application.

Robert's article is a must-read primer on how to avoid the landmines now inherent in reaching partial settlements.

You can read the full article here: https://ow.ly/Roea50Ro3BH