BARE BONES BRIEFS: FC dismisses murdered Indigenous women’s class action, certifies class for feds’ negligence to Indigenous in custody | Divisional Court dismisses ‘intrusion upon seclusion’ class action against Equifax | Lawyers fined $33,500 for missing fraud at firm | ICC touts arbitration as part of international minimum tax framework | Best of: law firm bulletins
By Julius Melnitzer | June 25, 2021 MIXED RESULTS IN INDIGENOUS CLASS ACTIONS Indigenous class actions seeking to impose liability for mistreatment on governments and police have achieved mixed results. On June 23, the Federal Court certified a class consisting of Aboriginal persons assaulted by the RCMP while in custody in the Northwest Territories. The […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS | Advocates’ Society releases final report on future of advocacy | Scrotum sanctions: OCA upholds $150,000 punitives award against employer | SCC to decide whether receivers can disclaim arbitration agreements | OCA: Municipality owes no duty of care to developer | FC: “Budway” weed infringes “Subway” sandwich | Best law firm webinars and bulletins
By Julius Melnitzer | June 14, 2021 Modern Advocacy Task Force releases final report The Advocates’ Society Modern Advocacy Task Force has just released its final report, The Right to be Heard: The Future of Advocacy in Canada. The report identifies four overarching principles: the open court principle, the imperative of access to justice, the […]
Ontario court upholds arbitration clause in employment contract
By Julius Melnitzer | June 11, 2021 An arbitration clause that doesn’t explicitly prohibit a terminated employee from making a complaint to the Ministry of Labour doesn’t offend employment standards legislation, the Ontario Superior Court has ruled. “The ruling will give comfort to employers that Ontario courts will enforce arbitration clauses,” says David Vaillancourt of […]
Defending democracy: the status of “fake news” in Canada
By Julius Melnitzer | May 23, 2021 It’s hard to process the fact that the multi-billion dollar defamation lawsuits launched by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic in the U.S. following on media allegations that they helped President Joe Biden “steal” the American election from Donald Trump may be facing uphill battles in American courts. Why […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS | FCA: The West Bank is not Israel | OSC blasts law firms’ lack of cooperation in LTC class actions | BLG buys AUM Law | Condemned? Choose your poison in South Carolina | Can’t-miss: McMillan webinar
By Julius Melnitzer | May 7, 2021 FCA : West Bank wine is not necessarily “Product of Israel” The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court ruling that “Product of Israel” labels on wines produced in the West Bank were “false, misleading and deceptive”. The court remitted the matter back to the Complaints […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: OCA hammers experts again | Federal Court: duty to consult is double-edged sword | DLA Piper teams with Women+Power | Social impact law firm NOVAlex expands | Can’t-miss: law firm webinars & bulletins
By Julius Melnitzer | May 4, 2021 Another expert breaches duty of impartiality The Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) has ruled that a doctor called as an expert defence witness in a malpractice case breached his duty to be independent by opining on the credibility and reliability of lay and expert witnesses. “It is clear […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Universal NDA coming? | Dismissal damages breach 24-month barrier | FC approves largest Canadian LFA ever | NextGen Roster: younger, affordable arbitrators
By Julius Melnitzer | April 21, 2021 Standardized NDA imminent? The world may see a “universally standardised” template for non-disclosure agreements (NDA) in just a few weeks. According to the Law Society Gazette. the OneNDA initiative, founded by The Law Boutique in the UK in February, now has the support of three magic circle firms […]
Successful leave application doesn’t foolproof against summary judgment
A seminal Ontario Superior Court decision leaves little doubt that success on an application for leave to appeal under the secondary market liability provisions of the Ontario Securities Act (OSA) does not portend success on the merits. “The statute clearly delineates between the ‘reasonable possibility’ standard for leave and the ‘balance of probabilities’ threshold on the merits,” […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Crown seeks juror challenge for transgender bias | Dismissed: first privacy class action heard on merits | Young lawyers suicidal | GC workload crisis: EY | Painworth expands | Best law firm webinars
By Julius Melnitzer | April 8, 2021 Dismissed: first privacy class action heard on the merits Quebec Superior Court Justice Florence Lucas has dismissed the first class action regarding the loss of personal information that has been heard on the merits in Canada. Anne Merminod in Borden Ladner Gervais LLP’s office in Montreal, lead counsel […]
Ten key tips: pivoting to a mediation practice
April 7, 2021 | By Rafeena Bacchus, guest contributor In Part I of this series, I provided 10 tips by way of a general roadmap to pivoting a legal career. Here, I will expand on those tips in the context of embarking on a mediation practice. Know your skill set and determine your area of […]