Michael Osborne is a partner in the Litigation and Competition & Foreign Investment Groups at Cassels. Michael advises and defends clients in inquiries and proceedings commenced by the Competition Bureau, including criminal matters, abuse of dominance, and marketing and advertising matters. He defends clients in private proceedings under the Competition Act, including price fixing class actions. Michael acts for and advises parties in a wide range of commercial disputes, including contractual disputes, shareholders’ disputes, commercial fraud, and employment matters. He also offers experience in a range of regulatory and white-collar crime matters. Michael has acted as trial and appellate counsel before all levels of court across the country, the Competition Tribunal and other administrative tribunals, and arbitral tribunals in international and domestic arbitrations, both institutional and ad hoc.
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb)
Nominee, 2019 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Procedure
Nominee, 2016 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, General Antitrust
Winner, 2015 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Private Enforcement
Nominee, 2014 Antitrust Writing Awards: Business, Private Enforcement
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The Competition Bureau is watching for evidence of companies taking advantage of consumers by making false or misleading claims about a product’s ability to combat COVID-19 or engaging in price fixing, the Commissioner of Competition warned in a recent statement. The Commissioner added that (...)
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It used to be the best deal in town: participants in criminal price-fixing conspiracies could approach the Competition Bureau and receive either complete immunity or leniency in exchange for ratting out their co-conspirators. The Bureau and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) still (...)
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Used car listing website operator CarGurus Inc.’s attempt to force rival Trader Corporation to supply it with vehicle listing data has encountered a dead end as the Competition Tribunal denied it leave to commence a private application under several provisions of the Competition Act. This (...)
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Documents and information that the Competition Bureau collects from third parties during its investigations are protected by public interest privilege from disclosure to plaintiffs in private actions, the BC Supreme Court has ruled. The plaintiffs in a class action alleging that Microsoft (...)
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Courts have begun to criticize plaintiff lawyers who file multiple overlapping class actions across the country. In Ontario, Perell J. refused to approve an agreement by two BC firms to share their fee with a Saskatchewan-based firm, Merchant Law Group (“MLG”) in Bancroft-Snell v. Visa Canada (...)
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Is The Competition Act A “Complete Code”?* Courts debate whether breaches of the Competition Act can support common law claims Recently, Canadian courts have been debating whether the Competition Act is a “complete code” that forecloses the availability of so-called “parasitic” claims, that is, (...)
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Not out of hot water: Direct Energy’s exit does not end abuse case* Direct Energy’s exit from the hot water heater rental market did not turn down the heat from the Commissioner The exit of a respondent in an abuse of dominance case does not mean the case cannot continue, the Competition (...)
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Efficiencies Save Landfill Merger, Supreme Court rules* A landfill merger that gave the buyer a monopoly and would prevent prices from falling was saved by efficiencies amounting to one-half of one person’s annual salary, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled recently in Tervita Corp. v. Canada (...)
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Class action plaintiffs can obtain wiretap evidence* Class action plaintiffs can obtain court-ordered disclosure of wiretap evidence obtained by the Competition Bureau, Canada’s Supreme Court held today in Imperial Oil v Jacques. This decision will make it easier for plaintiffs to obtain (...)
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Third parties cannot challenge merits of competition settlements* Third parties cannot challenge underlying facts Third parties cannot challenge the factual basis underpinning settlements between the Commissioner of Competition and targets of inquiries under the Competition Act, the (...)
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The Ebooks Saga: Kobo’s challenge explained* Ebook retailer Kobo is challenging a settlement entered into by the Competition Bureau with ebook publishers. The settlement has been stayed pending this challenge. Kobo’s challenge may have major implications for competition law enforcement in (...)
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US Obtains First Ever Extradition from Canada on Antitrust Charges* Canadian businessman John Bennett will be extradited to the US face bid-rigging, fraud, conspiracy, and kick-back charges, the BC Court of Appeal held recently. The charges stem from a bid by the company he founded, Bennett (...)
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Kobo Obtains Stay of Ebooks Settlement* The ebooks settlement reached between the Competition Bureau and four major ebook publishers has been stayed pending the determination of a challenge brought by ebook retailer Kobo Inc. to the settlement. Kobo argues that its contracts with the four (...)
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Tobacco price maintenance case goes up in smoke* A Vancouver convenience store operator’s attempt to force Imperial Tobacco to offer it lower prices was filtered out by the Competition Tribunal. Safa Enterprises Inc. operates “My Convenience Store”. Its competitor, New Hasty Market, pays less (...)
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Class action business as usual after SCC decisions* It’s business as usual for class actions after Canada’s Supreme Court issued a trilogy of decisions holding that so-called indirect purchasers can sue for damages caused by price fixing, and that whether indirect purchasers suffered harm can be (...)
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No pot of gold at the end of the Rainbow* A decision by joint operators of an oil field to use a single fluid hauler was not an unlawful conspiracy, the Alberta Court of Appeal held recently, overturning a 2011 decision that awarded about $8 million to the loser of a competitive bidding (...)
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Gas price fixers convicted after trial* A Quebec Superior Court judge recently convicted three individuals of conspiring to fix gas prices in two Quebec cities, Sherbrooke and Magog. To date 33 individuals and seven companies have been convicted fixing gas prices in Quebec and eastern (...)
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Maple Approval Leaves Canada with Regulated Monopoly Stock Exchange* In a surprise move, the Competition Bureau cleared the Maple Group’s bid to acquire TMX Group, Alpha Group, and Canadian Depository Services on July 4, 2012. On the same day, the OSC issued a recognition order regulating the (...)
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Injunction chickens come home to roost* The Competition Tribunal has the power to order an inquiry into damages arising from an interim order granted by the Tribunal, but can refuse to order damages where special circumstances exist. Deliberate and flagrant breach of the interim order will (...)
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