Relevancy Versus Confidentiality
November 10, 2023 By Brian Babcock In litigation, issues as to the production of documents are common. Parties often want to maintain the confidentiality of records prepared in confidence- employment records, medical records, internal investigations. THE ISSUE How far will courts go in protecting confidentiality? This confuses the concepts of confidentiality and privilege. Privilege is […]
Certificates of Pending Litigation
November 6, 2023 By Jonathon Clark Do you know what a “certificate of pending litigation” ( often called a CPL) is and does? A CPL is a document issued by a court- in Ontario, the Superior Court of Justice – when a party, the Plaintiff, is suing, claiming an interest in land. A CPL is […]
Pick a Number, Any Number
October 23, 2023 By Brian Babcock You agree to purchase a condominium, but the vendor breaches the agreement. THE ISSUE What are you entitled to as damages? The judge will not simply pick a number- there are rules and processes to be followed. THE CASE According to the Divisional Court in Nguyen v. Hu, in […]
Enforcement of judgments from Outside Ontario
October 20, 2023 By Jonathon Clark If you have obtained a judgment against a person (or corporation) in a court outside Ontario, what do you do? If the judgment is from another province or territory other than Quebec, under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act, there is a simple process to register that judgment with […]
Evidence in the Internet Age – Part 2
October 16, 2023 By Brian Babcock The internet is an ocean of information. Some of it is even correct. The paramount rule governing the admissibility of evidence is reliability and necessity. The best evidence is a document or firsthand evidence of a witness. Not all documents are admitted into evidence. Unless the parties agree otherwise, […]
Don’t be Late for a very important Date
October 13, 2023 By Brian Babcock In 2018, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the basic limitation of two years under the Limitations Act does not prevent objection to the parts of estate accounts that are over two years old. The passing of accounts is usually done at the end of the estate administration. […]
The Oppression Remedy and Piercing the Corporate Veil
October 10, 2023 By Nick Melchiorre What do you do if your tenant (or any other creditor) fails to pay you after the controlling shareholder/director has stripped all the cash out of the company? Suing the corporation is not productive. You want to sue the person with the money. But what do you sue them […]
Even Guardianship can be a Battleground
October 2, 2023 By Jonathon Clark It is always sad when families do not agree on how to care for the assets of elders or incapable persons generally. Just as we have seen a huge increase in estate litigation, there are more fights over the control of assets while the owner is still alive. Whether […]
Joint Tenancy Debt
September 25, 2023 By Mark Mikulasik THE ISSUES You are owed money by someone who owns a home in joint tenancy- how much can you collect from the sale of the home? Or, on the other side, your spouse is a joint tenant with you and cannot pay their debts. Can their creditors seize your […]
How Courts Interpret a Contract
September 15, 2023 By Jonathon Clark Breach of contract cases are common in Ontario courts. Trials are about finding facts from evidence, and the great secret of judging is that applying the law is, then, usually easy. THE ISSUE In a breach of contract case, one of the key factual disputes is usually over what […]