May 22, 2019 Plan administrators are welcoming the increased clarity accompanying the amendment of Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act to allow for the electronic designation of beneficiaries and the re-issue of the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities’ guideline No. 2, which establishes best practices for electronic communications in the pension industry. “Clarity on the ability to […]
Canadian lawyers act on Caster Semenya’s important case with the Olympic Committee May 29, 2019Lexpert Magazine May 2019 Issue Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP is, without doubt, an iconic Canadian business law firm, a mainstay of tradition and a proud bearer of corporate Canada’s colours when the need for legal expertise arises. Which makes it […]
Monday, June 10, 2019 No question about it, diversity and gender equality are all the rage in the profession — and it’s the clients that are driving the horses, with in-house counsel expected to lead both by way of example and by way of shutting out law firms who aren’t sensitive enough to the call. […]
Even when caught up in bidding wars, don’t rush it. You may end up signing documents that let the vendors off the hook for myriad issues July 18, 2018 If unaffordable prices, bidding wars and news that the real estate industry is supplying questionable statistics to the public isn’t enough, homebuyers must also deal with […]
February 13, 2020 The first major reform to the U.S. retirement system in a decade, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, contains provisions that could be useful guides for Canadian legislators and regulators. Signed into law by President Donald Trump in December, the act, known as SECURE, is primarily aimed at addressing […]
Julius Melnitzer | June 17, 2019 A recent RBC Insurance Services Inc. study found 45 percent of employees on disability claimed their workplaces pressured them to go back earlier than they felt they were able to do so. This is a significant increase from the 33 per cent of respondents who said the same in the previous year’s […]
Wednesday, June 19, 2019 @ 10:55 AM | By Julius Melnitzer Forget cybersecurity — because law firms, it appears, can’t even keep their desks clean. Notwithstanding all the noise coming from C-suite types and in-house counsel about the critical nature of data protection, a recent survey from Oakville, Ont.,-based Shred-it — which is, somewhat ironically, […]
Julius Melnitzer | January 16, 2020 The British Columbia Supreme Court has found that an individual who was the “directing mind of a company,” but not a trustee of its pension plan, was personally liable for a contribution shortfall because he “knowingly assisted” the company in breaches of its fiduciary duties. “The case is a heads-up, especially […]
Julius Melnitzer | January 21, 2020 The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that a wrongfully dismissed employee could take advantage of the stock options and restricted share units that vested during the reasonable notice period, despite language in the governing plans that cancelled unvested units on termination. The case, between IMAX Corp. and a former executive named Larry […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal has enunciated the principles governing the appointment of amicus curiae (friend of the court) in private family law cases — and the message from Morwald Benevides v. Benevides 2019 ONCA 1023 is unequivocally that appointments in such cases should be the exceptions to the rule. “It would be rare in a family law case […]