Parks, the Public Interest and Pandemics
February 8, 2021 By Brian Babcock When did your municipality last review how its parks by-law serves the public interest? Covid-related concerns were not enough reason to disregard a municipal by-law regulating parks. In doing so, the decision highlights important factors applicable to public interest injunctions generally, in particular the use of expert evidence and how […]
Construction Lien Trusts
December 20, 2020 By Brian Babcock Payments for a construction project in Ontario are trust funds under the Construction Act (formerly the Construction Lien Act). Persons involved in a breach of trust may be ordered to personally pay the misdirected amounts. Hopefully, this will not be you, but one purpose of this article is to warn […]
Stereotypes Harm Us All
December 20, 2020 By Brian Babcock We seldom post articles about criminal law, but we wish to reproduce and bring to your attention the November 6, 2020 decision of the Supreme Curt of Canada in R. v. Slatter, which reads in full: We are all of the view that the appeal must be allowed, for the […]
FAQ: Am I going to win?
December 7, 2020 By Brian Babcock In lawsuits, this must be the single most frequently asked question. The only honest answer is “I don’t know.” As much as clients hate to hear it, nothing is certain when you go to court. Your lawyer can give you an educated opinion on what might happen, but there are […]
Reasonably Contemplating Remoteness of Damages
November 23, 2020 By Brian Babcock The basic rule of contract damages is that the type of loss must be “reasonably contemplated” by the parties at the time they entered into the contract. Otherwise, we say that they are “too remote”. A defendant’s potential exposure cannot be unlimited. The courts have struggled to define what “reasonably […]
Common Sense and Litigation
November 10, 2020 By Brian Babcock A little common sense can go a long way in litigation. The cost and delay in lawsuits can be significantly reduced when parties and their lawyers do the smart thing. A recent Ontario superior Court case is just one of many examples. In 1479021 Ontario Inc. v. Hawkesbury (Town), the […]
The Cost of Public Interest Litigation
October 26, 2020 By Brian Babcock Determining that a proceeding is “public interest litigation” may have significant costs consequences. This is because courts recognize that access to justice has greater importance in public interest litigation than in disputes between private parties. “Public interest” does not mean that the parties are always public bodies. Private citizens may […]
Damages 101
October 26, 2020 By Brian Babcock The objective of calculating damages for a breach of contract seems simple – the injured party, or plaintiff, is supposed to be placed, so far as money can do it, in the same position they would have been in if the contract had been performed. This is sometimes called the […]
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 […]