Is Adverse Possession Dead In Ontario?
February 10, 2023 By Mark Mikulasik Don’t take adverse possession off life support yet. THE ISSUE Most lawyers in Ontario assumed that adverse possession – the ability to obtain the rights of an owner of land by possessing it as if you were the owner – would have vanished by 2022. Ontario has transitioned almost […]
Building a Record for the Appeal
February 10, 2023 By Brian Babcock What just might be worse than losing your case at trial? Winning the case and then having to go back to try it all over again because not only does the Court of Appeal grant the appeal, but they also decide that the factual record from the trial is […]
Think Before You Terminate
February 4, 2023 By Brian Babcock Be careful not to terminate an employee by accident. The surest way to accidentally terminate an employee is to give them a notice of termination. This may sound obvious, yet the case ended up at the Ontario Court of Appeal. Getting sound professional advice BEFORE terminating may prevent expensive […]
What Is Negligent Misrepresentation?
February 4, 2023 By Jonathon Clark We have mentioned the phrase “negligent misrepresentation” in several articles so far. We have yet to discuss negligent misrepresentation in an article specifically dedicated to the subject. That probably leaves some of you wondering “what is negligent misrepresentation?”, either because you landed here by Googling the term or because […]
A Million Dollar Parking Ticket?
January 27, 2023 By Mark Mikulasik THE ISSUE No, not really a million-dollar parking ticket. Just a million dollar fine for civil contempt arising from a dispute about illegal parking. The hurt in your pocketbook would be just as painful. THE CASE In Caledon (Town) v. Darzi Holdings Ltd., the individual appellant’s construction company improperly […]
To Win, You Need Evidence
January 27, 2023 By Nick Melchiorre Leaving a judge in a quandary is never a good thing. Lawsuits over aborted real estate transactions seemed to be popping up almost as often as estate litigation these days. This is particularly true in the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe, but it’s bound to be on […]
What Is “Total Disability?”
January 20, 2023 By Nick Melchiorre The phrase “total disability” is used frequently in government benefits and private disability insurance plans. But how do you know whether you, your employee, or a loved one is totally disabled? The first thing to know is that the determination will depend primarily on the particular legislation, plan, regulation, […]
Should the mediator propose creative solutions?
January 20, 2023 By Brian Babcock There is no single simple answer to this FAQ. Mediation is rightly popular because in most disputes, the best result is one the parties agree to themselves. This applies especially to situations where the objective is about more than “who will pay how much?” But what happens if you […]
Are you now or have you ever been…
January 13, 2023 By Fhara Pottinger …an estate trustee, an executor, an executrix, or a plain old trustee? THE ISSUE The modernization of legal terms to keep pace with the modernization of the English language is a good thing, but you need to be wary of unintended consequences. Some of the changes, while effective for […]
Damages When The Deal Does Not Close
January 13, 2023 By Nick Melchiorre THE ISSUE If you are the seller of a house and the buyer fails to close, how do you prove your damages? If you said that it is simply the difference between the two sale prices if you took reasonable steps to sell the property in an arm’s length […]