Arbitrability of LTD claims in Ontario’s hospital sector heading to Supreme Court
February 26, 2020 The issue of whether long-term disability claims are arbitrable or matters for the court, which has plagued Ontario’s hospital sector for over a quarter of a century, is on its way to the Supreme Court of Canada. “The current state of the law, which denies employees seeking long-term disability benefits under insurance […]
$100M judgment against Bell may signal uptick in pension indexing litigation
February 24, 2020 The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that Bell and its related companies, including Bell Canada, Bell Media Inc., Expertech Network Installation Inc. and Bell Mobility Inc., have been miscalculating the cost-of-living adjustment due to their 35,000 pensioners since 2017. The judgment could cost the telecommunications company up to $100 million and signal […]
Canadian law firms hold their own when it comes to making money, U.S. legal publication says
Canada’s homegrown law firms are holding their own in Legal Week’s international law firm rankings October 17, 2016 Canada’s homegrown law firms, the ones who have not been absorbed by the global behemoths and who still have most of their lawyers in Canada, are holding their own in international law firm rankings. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt […]
Rectification is not a ‘mulligan’ that can get companies out of taxation sand traps, Supreme Court says.
January 10, 2017 The Supreme Court of Canada is clamping down on the use of a legal tool that has allowed some taxpayers to lower their tax bills. In two separate decisions, one involving Fairmont Hotels and the other Jean Coutu, the Supreme Court has restricted access to a legal remedy called “rectification” to prevent […]
Generation Lex: Law schools seek balance between theory and practice
The battle for the modern law school: academic study in one corner of the ring, practical knowledge in the other April 25, 2017 Traditional bastions of legal learning are moving with the times by incorporating a more practical approach to legal education, yet critics say that they have not moved far enough or quickly enough […]
Reciprocal insurance exchange raises ethical, access to justice questions
Friday, May 05, 2017 Whether lawyers have class is open to question. But a select group does have CLLAS. CLLAS is not a typo. It is the acronym used by an elite group of about 15 law firms comprising some 5,000 lawyers who have banded together to incorporate a reciprocal insurance exchange, known as the […]
Ontario rent controls an opportunity lost for legal profession
Friday, May 12, 2017 Rent controls and funeral homes have a commonality. Both represent opportunity in the legal market; rent controls, an opportunity lost, and funeral homes an opportunity seized. They also represent the great divide that exists between the headspace of lawyers on this side of the Atlantic and that of the profession in […]
Judicial independence and the media
Thursday, May 18, 2017 Is there an “unstated compact” between the judiciary and the media? Should there be? And if so, what should it be? The notion of an “unstated compact” found its way to me from a bit of a distance, emanating from a speech given by Justice Barry Leon, who sits on the […]
Branding, skillful mergers the keys to Big Law success
Friday, June 02, 2017 It used to be that beyond name recognition — logos and the like — branding served only a limited purpose for law firms who sold services based for the most part on the individual expertise of their lawyers or their practice groups. But as personal contact declined in a globalized, connected […]
Change in values needed as firms shift away from billable hour targets
Friday, June 09, 2017 The news that global giant Linklaters, the archetypal bastion of lockstep compensation and individual billing targets, is moving away from these cornerstones, is both welcome and depressing news for the profession. It’s welcome because it signifies that even the most intransigent of traditionalists are recognizing the reality of an evolving profession. […]