Can You Sue for Emotional Distress in Ontario?
April 29, 2025 By Brian Babcock Emotional distress can have serious consequences, affecting mental health, relationships, and overall well-being. But can you sue for emotional distress in Ontario? The answer is yes—but with important legal nuances. Ontario law recognizes claims for emotional distress under specific circumstances, primarily through the tort of “intentional infliction of mental […]
What Is A Norwich Order?
March 13, 2025 By Jonathon Clark A Norwich order is a form of pre-action discovery or preservation order that can be obtained in Ontario by application in the Superior Court. It differs from other pre-action orders in that aimed at persons other than the proposed defendant- though the respondent must have some connection to the […]
Digital Defamation in Ontario
March 11, 2025 By Brian Babcock In today’s world, a single tweet, post, or comment can spread like wildfire, reaching thousands—if not millions—in seconds. While the internet has arguably improved instant communication, it has also increased the risk of defamatory statements causing significant harm to individuals and businesses. In Ontario, the legal framework for addressing […]
There Are No Guarantees
February 20, 2025 By Jonathon Clark “Am I going to win?” must be very high on any list of frequently asked questions of lawyers when clients are about to sue or are being sued. It is common for clients to ask their lawyer to guarantee the outcome of a lawsuit. This is understandable. Transactional work […]
Anton Piller: The Civil Search Warrant
February 6, 2025 By Jonathon Clark We have written before about the Mareva injunction, designed to prevent a wrongdoer from absconding with all the funds before the recovery lawsuit can proceed. What about preserving evidence that the wrongdoer might destroy? The Anton Piller order is another extraordinary remedy available at the start of a lawsuit […]
What Is A Tree Worth?
February 4, 2025 By Brian Babcock If you live in Northwestern Ontario, as we do, you are surrounded by trees. They seem to be everywhere. Forestry remains a dominant industry even as mining grows. So, not infrequently, we face cases involving improper removal of trees, or damage to trees. Which raises the question that I […]
Specific Performance: Frequently Asked Questions
January 21, 2025 By Mark Mikulasik What is specific performance? It is an equitable remedy for breach of contract in which the Court orders the party in breach to performed or complete the contract. Does it only apply to real estate? No. Although real estate deals gone bad are the classic typical example of situations […]
What Is Equity?
January 16, 2025 By Brian Babcock We have posted numerous articles discussing various aspects of equity but have not yet posted a stand-alone article defining and explaining what equity is all about. Let us fix that now. Once upon a time, the common law was an unruly beast. It was largely administered locally, and was […]
What Is “Judicial Notice”?
January 14, 2025 By Brian Babcock In previous articles, we have mentioned judicial notice, so we thought it might be interesting to explain the concept. Judicial notice is an important legal concept that allows courts, including those in Ontario, to recognize and accept certain facts as true without requiring formal proof. This principle streamlines judicial […]
Piercing The Corporate Veil Revisited
January 9, 2025 By Nick Melchiorre We have recently written an article on the test for “piercing the corporate veil” to find officers, directors or others personally responsible for the corporation’s fault. That article was based on a recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision. As discussed in that article, the test for piercing the corporate […]