LOLG Successful in Obtaining More than $555 Million Trial Judgment Against Federal Government
Overview
On Wednesday, August 6, the Superior Court of Justice, Commercial List, released its decision in Quadrangle Group LLC et al v. The Attorney General of Canada. Following a seven week trial, Justice Osborne awarded approximately $555,000,000 plus prejudgment interest for negligent misrepresentation. In 2007, Industry Canada induced the plaintiffs to capitalize a new wireless carrier and build out a network to compete against incumbents with ‘specific representations intentionally and expressly made’ that their spectrum licences could be transferred after five years. In 2013, Canada broke its promise by ‘capriciously’ removing the right to transfer the license and then interfered in a CCAA sales process. The decision is a thorough, careful review of the principles governing liability of public authorities in the commercial context, and the circumstances in which a private law duty of care will be imposed on a regulator. It is also a cautionary lesson on the limits of regulatory discretion and the line between bona fide policy making and capricious behaviour, including interference with the judicial process. LOLG represented the co-plaintiff, Quadrangle. The team included Jonathan Lisus, Phil Underwood and Vivien Milat, as well as former partner Matthew Law, now the SVP, Legal Affairs at Rogers. The decision can be found here.
People
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Clients rely on Jonathan to handle their most difficult problems. He “has our utmost trust on critical matters” (Chambers Canada 2023). “Jonathan Lisus is in a class of his own”, “He is one of the bes…
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Phil recognizes the underlying interests in any dispute and focuses on providing solutions that create value and maintain important relationships for his clients.
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Vivien brings innovation and extensive expertise to the prosecution of document-intensive cases and management of e-discovery projects. He strategically and efficiently utilizes technology to advance …
