Toronto’s Magrath O’Connor LLP is one of the city’s newest and most dynamic litigation boutiques. Formed through the partnership of Gavin Magrath and Sarah J. O’Connor, Magrath O’Connor primarily focuses on the following:

Tax Litigation
We offer legal advice on CRA audits and appeals, administrative proceedings, and litigation with tax authorities before the Tax Court of Canada and in appeals before the Federal Court.

Maritime & Transportation Law
We also offer legal advice regarding liability arising out of international carriage of goods to clients including transportation intermediaries and forwarders, shippers and importers, cargo and marine insurers, and carriers.

General Civil and Commercial Litigation

We have experience in a range of civil and commercial matters outside our main areas of focus, including general commercial litigation and drafting, employment disputes, insurance and injury, privacy and e-commerce, and estates. We are also pleased to assist on matters where conflicts have required general counsel to withdraw.

For more information about us and our practice, please choose from the menu links at the top of our homepage.

Our website is presently under construction. You can still find the news on the left, and our lawyer, practice, and contact information on the top bar. Come back and visit us soon and let us know how you like the changes!

In reasons dated 7 March 2008, Justice Hugessen of the Federal Court of Canada rendered judgement in favour of the plaintiff forwarder Locher Evers International (LEI). The principal claim was for approximately $215,000 in outstanding charges arising out of more than 50 transactions over a period of three months; awards for interest and costs round out the total amount. The defendant importer had refused to pay based on set-off for a cargo damage claim, as is often the case. Gavin Magrath of Magrath O’Connor LLP acted as counsel for LEI.

A number of legal issues had to be resolved in favour of the forwarder in order to obtain this result, including:

1) establishing subject-matter jurisdiction of the Federal Court;

2) incorporating the CIFFA standard trading conditions by reference into the contract for credit and carriage, as the actual bills incorporating the conditions would not have been delivered to the importer until after the contract was formed; and

3) establishing the legal and equitable obligations on the importer to pay for freight charges, regardless of claimed set-off for cargo damage.

The Court found as a matter of fact that LEI had taken all reasonable steps to bring the STC’s to their customer’s attention, including incorporating them into the signed credit agreement, noting them on the face as well as the reverse of the bills, and also in the automatic signature of outgoing email rate quotations. Accordingly, this case stands as a reminder that when they take care to manage their legal obligations carefully Forwarders will be well protected by the law.

Locher Evers International v. Canada Garlic Distribution Inc., [2008] FCJ 388; (2008) FC 319.

Vienna: Today the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted the draft convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea - commonly referred to as the “UNCITRAL Convention”. The draft convention has spent well over 5 years at the working group level: the next step is for the draft to be approved by annual meeting of the Commission in summer 2008, and then to the General Assembly for adoption.

The overarching goal of the convention is to create a standard international framework to replace the Hague / Hague-Visby rules and the failed Hamburg Convention. And the voyage is far from over: while adoption by the UN is expected, the convention must be adopted by the preponderance of shipping nations if it is to avoid the fate of the Hamburg convention. Significant concerns remain among some nations, including concern over the proposed limitation amounts and the creation of a provision allowing for ‘freedom of contract’, which would allow larger undertakings to contract at terms less onerous than the convention terms.

The New Year saw the conclusion of a cargo dispute between a small Canadian importer and one of the major lines. For the importer, it was their first shipment - a test case that went very wrong. The container in which the goods were carried was substantially damaged at some point during the carriage, allowing the ingress of water and, ultimately, the destruction of the clothing inside by mildew.

The importer’s inexperience resulted in several oversights: cheap day labour was hired to dispose of the goods, rather than a marine cargo expert, and they were unable to produce a certificate of destruction for damaged cargo. Further, the importer provided prompt notice of claim to their forwarder, but not the line. The forwarder collected documents and notified the line - but outside the 3-day notice requirement contained in the bill of lading. The line used these deficiencies as the basis for refusing the claim.

However, in the result we were able to obtain recovery in excess of 80% of the total value without litigation. “Remember that the lines’ claims managers - and claims managers generally - are paid to deny claims, not to pay out on them. If you believe you have a meritorious claim but are not getting satisfaction from the insurance or claims process, you should consult counsel,” advises Gavin Magrath. “A good lawyer can get past the stonewalling and force genuine negotiations.”

For more information contact Gavin Magrath: Gavin@MagrathOconnor.com

Our offices will be closed from December 24th 2007, reopening January 7th 2008. We wish all of our friends, colleagues, and clients a safe and happy holiday season and a prosperous new year!

Gavin Magrath attended the 2008 IE Canada trade show and conference held from 22-24 October 2007 at the Doubletree International Plaza, Mississauga, Ontario, to speak with a panel on the subject of air cargo security and the development of the Transport Canada regulated agent plan.

“Security continues to be the driving force behind industry change, and this change is fundamental to the business, unlike the recent turbulence caused by currency fluctuations,” Gavin noted. “While neither the infrastructure nor the expertise is presently in place, I think that industry players need to be looking towards a time when there will be 100% cargo screening, and even 100% inspection. This is not science-fiction, but rather a virtual certainty in the medium-term. It’s important to work with industry colleagues to ensure that the burdens associated with this change are borne fairly, and to make sure that Canadian industry is not smothered by over-regulation.”

The panel was chaired by Mike Zozula, Executive Director of the Canadian International Freight Forwarders’ Association (CIFFA), and also included Stephen Conrad of Transport Canada, Michael Morey of Air Canada Cargo, and Ron Lennox of the Canadian Trucking Alliance. For more information contact Gavin Magrath.

Magrath O’Connor is pleased to announce that pro-bono client “Children of Ethiopia Education Fund” (COEEF) has been successful in its application with the CRA for charitable status.

“It’s always nice to see voluntarism and hard work rewarded,” said Gavin Magrath, who acts as counsel to COEEF. “The correlation between development and the education of women is well known, but it is remains incredibly difficult for girls and women to obtain an education. The poor can ill-afford school supplies and uniforms, much less the time away from household and economic work. Girls have a further barrier in that they must often compete with male family members for scarce education resources. COEEF presently supports over a dozen young women in three Ethiopian provinces who would otherwise be unable to get an education. I am optimistic that with their new charitable status the group will be able to help even more women and girls in 2008.”

For more information, visit the group’s website: http://www.coeefcanada.com/

Welcome to Magrath O’Connor LLP, Toronto’s newest and most dynamic litigation boutique. Our site is presently under construction. Information on our partners is available by clicking the ‘our people’ link, and our co-ordinates are available on the ‘contact us’ page.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact one of our partners directly:

Gavin Magrath: 416-931-0463 gavin@magrathoconnor.com

Sarah O’Connor: 416-931-7146 sarah@magrathoconnor.com