TWO PROGRAMS: An Update on Contractual Interpretation AND The Culture of Advocacy | CPDonline.ca

TWO PROGRAMS: An Update on Contractual Interpretation AND The Culture of Advocacy

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Credits
Substantive: 0.5
30 minutes
Published
2025
Presenter(s)
Alyssa Holland
Mitch Kitagawa
Source
County of Carleton Law Association (CCLA)
Provider
CPDOnline.ca
Language
English
Length
30 minutes
Price
$139.00 plus tax
CCLA 45th Civil Litigation Updated Conference
Includes Handouts

In “An Update on Contractual Interpretation,” Alyssa Holland outlines current appellate trends following Sattva, emphasizing that contractual meaning arises from reading the text within its factual matrix while giving primacy to the words used. Reviewing recent Ontario and Alberta cases, she shows how courts applying the same framework reach divergent results, especially on commercial absurdity and appellate intervention, and offers practical guidance for centering arguments on text, handling objective evidence, and identifying genuine errors of law.

In “The Culture of Advocacy,” Mitchell Kitagawa examines how civility directly affects advocacy, credibility, and outcomes. Drawing on commentary, surveys, and recent rulings, he shows how poor conduct, delay, and disrespect—verbal or nonverbal—undermine the justice process. He urges lawyers to treat professionalism as strategic advocacy, guided by communication, cooperation, and common sense.

Together, these programs link precise legal reasoning with the culture that sustains it, promoting clarity, respect, and credibility in advocacy

Presenters

Alyssa Holland

Alyssa Holland is a partner at Conway Baxter Wilson LLP/s.r.l. in Ottawa and maintains a broad litigation practice with a focus on administrative and constitutional law. Alyssa began her legal career in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and continues to practice in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, as well as representing clients across Canada. Alyssa represents statutory officers, regulatory bodies, elected officials, governments, civil society organizations and individuals in a range of advisory and litigation matters. Alyssa is a former Law Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, and from 2016 to 2020 she advised the Assembly, its members and committees on some of the most challenging legal and legislative issues of the day. Prior to entering private practice, Alyssa clerked for Justice J. D. Denis Pelletier of the Federal Court of Appeal and for Justice Andromache Karakatsanis at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Mitch Kitagawa