Weilers LLP

Royalty Agreements – Arbitrate or Litigate?

November 13, 2021 By Brian Babcock Despite the complexity of mining royalty agreements, if they contain an arbitration clause, Ontario courts are likely to stay any court proceedings and defer to arbitration. This is consistent with the recent trend to defer commercial disputes to arbitration generally, if that is what the parties agreed to in […]

Answering the Right Question

November 13, 2021 By Brian Babcock An administrative decision maker must form a reasonable opinion, but that opinion must also answer the correct question under the governing statute and regulations. A court conducting judicial review will not decide the question fresh and substitute its own view as to what is the correct answer. That is […]

Rethinking Releases

November 9, 2021 By Brian Babcock For 150 years in Canada, releases have been interpreted differently than other contracts. That will no longer be the case after the Supreme Court ruling in Corner Brook (City) v. Bailey. The court has stated that because a release is a contract, general rules of contract interpretation ought to […]

The Cost of Experts

November 9, 2021 By Brian Babcock Evolving case law and amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure encourage parties to retain experts in civil litigation. For example, in a negligence action, it is often impossible to prove what the standard of care is, not to mention whether the standard was met, without an expert. Even […]

COVID-19 Vaccines and Parental Decision-making

November 1, 2021 By Margaret Waddington & Jessica Bevilacqua As COVID-19 vaccines rollout across Canada for those aged 12 and up, and with vaccination for children under 12 on the horizon, disputes between parents about vaccinating their children continue to increase. If a parent has been granted decision-making responsibility (previously known as custody), they have […]

What We Learned From Our First Zoom Trial

October 31, 2021 By Martha Petryshyn & Mark Lahn In early 2021, Weilers associate Martha Petryshyn conducted a five-day trial using the video conferencing software Zoom in the Ontario Court of Justice. Conducting an entire trial virtually was a new experience for the team here at Weilers. In this article, we would like to share […]

The Priority of Priming Charges Under The CCAA

October 31, 2021 By Brian Babcock A judge supervising an insolvency may, in some situations under the Companies Creditors Arrangements Act (CCAA) order that “priming charges” have the effect of giving priority to freshly advanced credit over debts incurred before the insolvency, including those of secured creditors, and the so-called deemed trust under the Income Tax […]

When the Contract is Silent about the Ending

October 31, 2021 By Brian Babcock When do your obligations under a contract end? Most contracts provide a specific date as a deadline for performance. Others end when the outcome – the service or delivery of goods – is finished. Occasionally, however, we encounter a contract that does not provide clearly for the obligations to […]

The Oppression Remedy and Mutual Falling Outs

October 22, 2021 By Brian Babcock The oppression remedy is NOT the solution to all corporate deadlock involving closely held private corporations. It is only available for conduct which is unfairly prejudicial to or unfairly disregards the interests of the other shareholder. It is not a good option to resolve mutual falling out situations. You […]

Waiver of Privilege Can Happen When You Least Expect It

October 16, 2021 By Brian Babcock Solicitor-client privilege is an important feature of our legal system. In order for you to have confidence to discuss your situations honestly with your lawyer, you want the assurance that what you say to them, and what they say to you, will remain confidential. Solicitor-client privilege has been called […]