Earl A. Cherniak KC, FCIArb

Mr. Cherniak’s practice is restricted to arbitrations and mediations and trial and appellate work, in a broad spectrum of complex commercial, insurance and public litigation and arbitration. Mr. Cherniak is a member (and Past Chair) of the Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society (TCAS) and a non-resident member arbitrator at Arbitration Place, a fully integrated arbitration centre located in the heart of Canada’s financial district in downtown Toronto, and a member of the arbitration practice at 3 Verulam Buildings in London, UK.

Arbitration/Mediation Experience

Recent and ongoing commercial arbitrations as arbitrator include a dispute between Alberta Oil Sands joint venture and an international group of insurers (chair of panel, settled after 3 months of hearing); a dispute between a steel company and a group of contractors who performed an upgrade (chair of panel); a dispute between a coal mining company and a loading facility (sole arbitrator); a dispute between an electric energy supplier and a manufacturer (chair of panel); a dispute between the Ontario government and the long term lessee of a toll highway (member of the panel); a dispute in the Canadian book publishing industry (sole arbitrator); a dispute between an Ontario municipality and a hydro-electric supplier (sole arbitrator); a dispute between the buyer and seller of a hydro-electric supply company (sole arbitrator); a shareholder dispute in the technology industry (sole arbitrator); a vendor/purchaser dispute in the hydro-electric power supply industry (sole arbitrator); a dispute between two pharmaceutical companies over a distribution agreement; a dispute over dockage rights on the Great Lakes (panel member, ICC arbitration); a dispute between a hospital and a pharmaceutical company; a manufacturer of commercial airplanes and a customer; an ICC arbitration involving a dispute between an American supplier and European entities over a share acquisition agreement (sole arbitrator); a dispute between Canadian companies in the helicopter industry (panel member); a dispute between a Canadian corporation and its directors with an insurer over liability under a directors and officers liability policy following on the bankruptcy of an American subsidiary (sole arbitrator); a dispute between a partner of a major Canadian law firm and the law firm (panel member); a dispute between condominium owners and a developer over the use of the premises (sole arbitrator); a dispute between a significant entity in the Vancouver Olympics and a developer (sole arbitrator); a dispute between a First Nations Band, Ontario Power Generation and an entity of the Ontario government over power generation in Northern Ontario (sole arbitrator); a dispute between parties to a joint venture agreement (sole arbitrator); a dispute between Canadian investors and a Chinese manufacturing entity over a shareholders’ agreement; a dispute between a Canadian First Nation and the Ontario government over issues relating to a casino; and a LCIA arbitration between a B.C. company and a Swiss financial group over a mining investment in Mexico.

Mediations include a shareholders dispute; claims in a complex insolvency between stakeholders; a dispute between a major supplier and a sub-contractor in the automotive industry; a dispute between Toronto and a developer; a class action suit in securities litigation; a dispute between Air France and passengers following a plane crash in Toronto; a dispute between a financial institution and the Canadian government over the interpretation of an agreement for the sale of a government run entity; a dispute between a Danish purveyor of fine jewellery and a Canadian licensee/franchisee (ICDR retainer); and several international franchisee/franchisor disputes (ICDR).