Do Not Sleep on Your Rights
October 8, 2020 By Brian Babcock If you are wronged, or even think you are wronged, you almost always have a time limit that applies to when you must start a proceeding to protect your rights. In Ontario, that is generally two years from the date when your claim is discovered by you. There are exceptions, […]
“To Sue or Not to Sue?” That is the Question
September 23, 2020 By Brian Babcock “I was never ruined but twice: once when I lost a lawsuit, and once when I won.” So said the French writer Voltaire, commenting upon the cost of winning a law suit. As litigation lawyers, we love taking on your law suits. For most of us, a day in court […]
Disgorgement of Ill-Gotten Gains
August 10, 2020 By Brian Babcock What is your remedy if someone breaches a duty to you that earns them a profit, but which causes you no losses? Or your losses are impractical to prove or measure? You might think that after hundreds of years, our legal system already has neat answers to these sort of […]
Commercial Real Estate Deals that Don’t Close
July 30, 2020 By Brian Babcock When a real estate deal does not close, you may sue for damages, or claim specific performance. The purpose of specific performance is to provide the you with the result that the contract contemplated – that is, the property. The goal in a remedy for breach of contract is to […]
What is a trust?
July 29, 2020 By Brian Babcock Every time I tell someone I will be teaching Trusts in January, I get the question back, “What is Trusts?” Since Trusts are an important part of everyday life, and not just for lawyers, I thought I ought to post an answer. The origins of trusts date back to before […]
Contempt and the Enforcement of Orders
July 29, 2020 By Brian Babcock Obtaining a judgment or court order is only the first step toward satisfaction. The order must still be acted upon or enforced. In Ontario, the Rules of Civil Procedure provide several mechanisms for collecting on a money judgment. These are distinct from the mechanism for enforcing an order for something […]
Let The Buyer “Beware”
October 30, 2017 By Brad Smith Ghosts and goblins can play a role in the law. There is Latin phrase, caveat emptor, which means, let the buyer beware. This was never so true in a recent court case, 1784773 Ont. Inc. v K-W Labour Association et al. After selling some property, the seller reported in the local […]
What Is Mitigation?
May 4, 2017 By Brian Babcock Mitigation is a principle of the law of damages which limits the recovery by a Plaintiff. The core principle is that a Plaintiff cannot recover losses that can be avoided by taking reasonable steps. This levels the playing field out of a desire for fairness to defendants. A Plaintiff should […]
What Are “aggravated Damages”?
February 13, 2017 By Brian Babcock Aggravated damages are intended to compensate for an actual loss such as anxiety or nervous shock beyond economic losses, or in rare cases, beyond general damages for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. Aggravated damages are awarded in certain types of contract cases, where there are almost […]
What Is “Consumer Surplus”?
January 3, 2017 By Brian Babcock Traditionally, courts award damages for breach of contract mainly from a commercial viewpoint- asking questions such as “what additional expenses did the breach cause?” or, sometimes “what was the loss of profits suffered?” These approaches however do not adequately capture the non-monetary benefits which flow from certain types of consumer […]