BARE BONES BRIEFS: LSO panel splits on whether Black Lives Matter criticism is professional misconduct | Firm sues ‘underbilling’ associates | Remote lawyering: longer hours: CLIO survey | LSO suspends paralegal who cost clients $500,000 | CTA: compensation for passenger applies to all others on same flight
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 […]
The difficult art of handling clients
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 […]
Great Lakes fleets thrown overboard by new global maritime emissions standards
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 […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Family lawyers make these professional misconduct mistakes | Clio offers escape from restrictive legaltech contracts | Wikipedia influences judges’ decisions: MIT study | Former CJO Strathy joins Arbitration Place | Medical device mass torts proliferating
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 […]
OCA orders new trial for accused whose lawyer ‘conscripted him into assisting his own prosecution’
The Ontario Court of Appeal said counsel’s incompetence was ‘pervasive.’ By Julius Melnitzer | December 31, 2022 The Ontario Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial for an accused whose lawyer, Toronto’s Janice R. Johnson, a 35-year veteran of the criminal bar, “conscripted [him] into assisting his own prosecution.” The OCA’s reasons are damning. […]
Arbitrator finds employer violated Ontario Human Rights Code for termination over vaccine refusal
By Julius Melnitzer | August 4, 2022 An arbitrator has ruled Public Health Sudbury violated the Ontario Human Rights Code prohibition against discrimination on the basis of creed when it terminated a nurse who refused a coronavirus vaccination because it was against her religious beliefs. “The decision is significant because the arbitrator, Robert Herman, is […]
Employers seeking to withhold termination entitlements must prove wilful misconduct pre-planned: Ontario court
By Julius Melnitzer | May 19, 2022 A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision raises the bar for employers seeking to withhold minimum entitlements under the Employment Standards Act from employees dismissed for cause.Julius Melnitzer The case arose when TK Elevator terminated Mark Render — a manager with more than 30 years’ service — for […]
Ontario judge cautions FSRA in certification of Brewers Retail pension class action
In certifying a pension class action by Brewers Retail Inc., an Ontario Superior Court judge denounced the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario for defying a decision of its predecessor, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. Justice Ed Morgan certified the class on Feb. 10, 2022, setting the stage for a settlement approval hearing. In […]
New Brunswick to allow windup of pension plans with missing members
By Julius Melnitzer | January 3, 2022 New Brunswick’s new unclaimed property regime, which came into force on Jan. 1, 2022 and is the fourth such provincial regime in Canada, will finally allow defined benefit pension plan sponsors with unlocatable or missing members to fully windup their plans. The governing legislation, the Unclaimed Property Act, […]
Fossil fuels may be in doldrums but energy lawyers are adapting to the new environment
By Julius Melnitzer | October 25, 2021 Fossil fuels may be in the doldrums with a precipitous future ahead, but energy law and the demand for energy lawyers is alive and well. “Generally speaking, recruitment activity in the overall energy sector has increased,” said Carrie Heller, president of The Heller Group Legal and Executive Search, […]