By Julius Melnitzer | March 23, 2023 An historic agreement between B.C. and the Blueberry River First Nation could spell greater certainty for proponents of development projects on treaty lands throughout the country. “The court recognized that it’s hard to protect historical rights when they are being assessed on a project-by-project, piecemeal basis,” said Martin […]
By Julius Melnitzer | March 8, 2023 IS AGGRESSIVE CRITICISM OF BLACK LIVES MATTER PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT? A Law Society Tribunal has split on whether social media posts criticizing Black Lives Matter, Pride Day and public health mask mandates amounted to professional misconduct. Lisa Simone, who was applying for a paralegal license, admitted the posts were […]
By Julius Melnitzer | March 7, 2023 As it turns out, it’s not just employees who are working at home these days; so are the people investigating their workplace activities. “Since the pandemic, the vast majority of workplace investigations have been conducted virtually,” said Vanessa Lapointe, who conducts them regularly in the course of her […]
By Julius Melnitzer | March 6, 2023 The Federal Court has ruled that the termination of long-term disability benefits for employees who become eligible to receive unreduced pension benefits doesn’t amount to age discrimination. The case arose from the terms of a collective bargaining agreement between Air Canada and the Air Canada Pilots Association. The […]
Energy sector is high on the perceived opportunity list By Julius Melnitzer | February 6, 2023 Canada’s top M&A lawyers are taking a measured approach to 2023 after a sharp decline in deal count in 2022, when activity pulled back from unsustainable levels reached during the pandemic. “We’re starting to see activity again as people […]
By Julius Melnitzer | February 6, 2023 The art of managing one’s clients has befuddled many a lawyer. But Sean Dillman, an enterprising, tech-savvy, ex-general practitioner and co-manager of a law firm has come up with a novel approach: a client prepared for the lawyer experience, he says, will be much easier to manage. To […]
New rules ignore realities of inland shipping, leaving industry to develop alternate strategies By Julius Melnitzer | January 31, 2023 Despite efforts to reduce their carbon emissions, Canada’s lakers — the ships that carry cargo in the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River and Arctic and East coasts — are finding themselves in an environmental and […]
By Julius Melnitzer | January 30, 2023 PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT MISTAKES FAMILY LAWYERS SHOULD AVOID In a Six Minute Family Lawyer Program, Bill Trudell, who defends lawyers before the Law Society of Ontario, outlined five Rules of Professional Conduct “that frequently are not followed and ones that may be of particular relevance to the family law […]
By: Julius Melnitzer | January 21, 2023 The Canadian Institute of Actuaries is urging the federal government to reconsider its cessation of real return bond issuances, citing the potential financial impacts to defined benefit pension plans. “We request not only that the decision to cease issuing real return bonds be reconsidered, but also that the […]
By Julius Melnitzer | January 19, 2023 This is the second of our annual two-part series ranking the top 10 business law decisions of the just-ended year. The first part featured cases ranked 6-10, while this article highlights the top five cases in ascending order. 5. Peace River Hydro Partners v. Petrowest Corp. (SCC) In […]