Lexpert's Top 10 Business Decisions of 2021/2022

In Lexpert's Top 10 Business Decisions of 2021/2022, Lenczner Slaght is featured for its involvement in Li v Barber and Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada v Entertainment Software Association. Monique Jilesen was further interviewed on our involvement in Li v Barber, where our team successfully obtained a precedent-setting Mareva order.

...

“It was the first actual freezing order dealing with cryptocurrency,” says Monique Jilesen, partner at Lenczner Slaght, who acted for Champ & Associates. Champ & Associates is the law firm representing Ottawa residents and businesses pursuing the class action. 

Mareva injunctions typically deal with cash, and some of those who use cryptocurrency may have believed that it was an asset outside the legal system’s reach, says Jilesen. “The court, ultimately, found that that wasn’t the case, and that cryptocurrency could be frozen like any other asset in the hands of the person holding it and in the hands of any institution which may come into contact with it.” 

While the crypto community may be on both sides of the issue, Jilesen believes that it is good for the industry to have oversight and regulation because it means more security. “There are, of course, some people who deal with cryptocurrency who wish for it to be completely unregulated,” she says. “But that provides it with less security, less reliability.”