Supreme Court ruling in RCMP pension case may force plan design changes
Julius Melnitzer | October 22, 2020 Last week’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension plan discriminated against job-sharing women should be a wake-up call to pension administrators that changes in plan design to accommodate equality rights are long overdue. Read more Related articles Appeal court upholds ruling in RCMP […]
The Case Doctor: a new legal species
October 19, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer Richard Shekter of Shekter Legal, a Toronto mediator and arbitrator, has put an interesting twist on the notion of a “second opinion”. After 44 years as an all-purpose counsel with a reputation for taking on anything with merit that came through the door, he set up shop as […]
Canada’s enforcement void: of tax cheats and money launderers
October 18, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer Tax cheats and money launderers, it seems, are all the rage in Canadian and international news again. But chances are we’ll hear little about how governments have forced them to disgorge their ill-gotten gains. That’s because the cheats and their advisors have mastered the art of corporate disguise, […]
Counsel are judge’s “lens”: Ontario Court of Appeal
October 12, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer Putting forward the evidence isn’t enough: argue your theory at trial if you want to complain on appeal about its treatment. That’s the message from the Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Becker v. Toronto (City). “The court made it pretty clear that if an issue isn’t […]
What to do about sharp rise in self-represented litigants
October 12, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer Increased funding for legal aid to help with the dilemma of self-represented litigants (SRLs) isn’t in the cards — at least not anytime soon. “I and many others who have advocated more funding for legal aid just have to be realistic,” said professor Nicholas Bala of Queen’s University […]
McMillan bulks up competition group with Joshua Krane
Tuesday, October 6, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer Competition lawyer Joshua Krane has joined McMillan LLP as a partner in the Toronto office. Recognized as a future leader by Who’s Who Legal, Krane advices on pricing, marketing and contracting practices. He counsels clients on relationship management with customers, suppliers and other market participants. Krane has […]
Commercial reality alive and well in transfer pricing world
The Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) has snafued the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) attempt to upend transfer pricing arrangements between Cameco Corporation and its Swiss subsidiary – in what amounted to a no-holds barred attack on the commercial realities facing multinational companies. In the CRA’s view of the world, respect for contracts and the separate […]
Courts mature in their approach to GAAR
September 28, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer The Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Canada v. Bank of Montreal (BMO) may represent a third-generation evolution of general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) caselaw. “Initially, in cases like Canada v. Canadian Pacific Ltd., the courts were not really comfortable with the GAAR concept and uncertain how far it […]
The new way for in-house counsel to ID legal disputes early
September 28, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer The Deep Tech Resolution Lab (DTRL) at Oxford’s Faculty of Law is building an artificial intelligence (AI) system to search corporate data for signs of trouble before they emerge. According to the Law Society Gazette, DTRL is asking in-house lawyers to help them with the project. “The idea […]
Get a leg up on your injury’s worth – – – for free and without a lawyer
September 27, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer You’re injured in an accident. You’re lost, alone and frustrated, and you’re looking for a lawyer. Michael Zouhri of Edmonton knows how you feel. And that’s why he created PainWorth, free online software touted as ”the world’s first fully-automated app that helps you calculate the potential value of your […]