When a person receives money or property without giving something in return, the law presumes he or she has an obligation to return it to the person from whom he or she received it. This presumption, known as the presumption of “resulting trust”, may be rebutted by showing that the money or property was intended […]
Spurred by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Ontario courts have rapidly introduced new technologies to enable court hearings to proceed virtually. One important development is the introduction of the evidence-management software Caselines. Caselines allows parties to share with judges and associate judges documentary evidence and submissions on motions, trials and other […]
In Emeny v. Tomaszewski, 2019 ONSC 3298, Justice Sossin considered what level of damages were warranted where an individual was subjected to serious defamation on social media. In previous decisions, the Courts have awarded a high-level of damages where defamatory comments related to the reputations of white-collar professionals such as lawyers, accountants, and doctors. In Emeny, our […]
What happens when employers terminate employees and try to rely on unclear written employment contracts? That was the question in Andros v Colliers where our employee client was terminated on the basis of a written employment contract with a questionable termination clause that attempted to severely limit his severance package. The firm won at the […]
The legal maxim of caveat emptor, roughly translated as “buyer beware”, is a well-entrenched principle of Ontario real property law. According to this general principle, a buyer of land assumes the cost of any defects in the land she buys and cannot sue the seller for damages relating to most defects in land. Although Caveat […]
Online defamation is an unfortunate reality for many businesses and individuals. Negative online reviews can deter customers away from a business; undermine employee morale; and divert resources to respond to defamatory commentary. Similarly, for individuals, online defamation has the potential to cause hurt feelings, embarrassment and lasting damage to one’s professional reputation. A person defamed […]
Court delays made headlines again recently, after Justice Peter Daley addressed the “facilities crisis” facing the Ontario Superior Court in Brampton, where it can take up to eight months to hear a civil or family matter and even longer for a criminal matter. Justice Daley focused his remarks on the provincial government, which he said […]
Trial courts continue to iron out the practicalities of the “culture shift” called for by the Supreme Court of Canada in Hryniak v Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7 to apply summary resolution procedures that are shorter and less expensive than trialswhen doing so is fair and just. One of those options is to proceed by way […]
As the new recreational cannabis laws have rolled out over the past month, there’s been a lot of discussion over how difficult it is to determine whether someone is impaired by the drug. This is because it is not clear how much marijuana in one’s system results in impairment, or how long that impairment lasts, […]
What can a group do if it is denied official recognition by a governing association? What can a member do if they are expelled from a group? What happens when there is a dispute between members? In what circumstances and to what degree will a court intervene in the activities and decisions of groups? The […]
