Another negligence claim against lawyer dismissed for being a collateral attack
Thursday, June 1, 2023Stephen A. Thiele, Gavin J. Tighe, Kevin MooibroekLitigationCivil Procedure, Dismissal of Action, Collateral Attack
Unless a decision is overturned on an appeal, the issues decided therein have been finally determined. In general, a party impacted by a final decision...
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What is an Enforceability Opinion and do I need one?
Wednesday, May 31, 2023Zev ZlotnickCorporate Law, Business LawReal Estate
An enforceability opinion is an opinion that the transaction documents constituting legal, valid, and binding obligations of the underlying entities, enforceable against them in...
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Lawyers face court sanction for relying on “bogus” cases produced by ChatGPT
Tuesday, May 30, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationEthics, Legal Research , Chatbot Research
Artificial intelligence has been defined as “the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think and act like humans.” In the practice of law,...
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Negligence claim statute-barred by ultimate 15-year limitation period
Friday, May 26, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Limitations Act
Civil claims in Ontario are generally subject to a two-year limitation period, meaning that a plaintiff must start a court action within two years of...
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Real Estate Agent’s Defamation Claim Survives Anti-SLAPP Motion
Thursday, May 25, 2023James R.G. CookLitigation, Real EstateDefamation, Online Reviews, Anti-SLAPP Legislation, Anti-SLAPP Legislation
In Niu v. Cao, 2020 ONSC 5407 (CanLII), an Ontario real estate agent was permitted to proceed with a defamation claim stemming from online postings maligning...
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Condominium breached duty to disclose imminent special assessment in status certificate
Wednesday, May 24, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Status Certificate
Prospective buyers of a condominium unit in Ontario have the right to obtain a status certificate that is supposed to provide them with essential information about the physical and financial situation of the condominium, including any ...
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Ontario expands non-essential business closures
Tuesday, April 4, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationCOVID-19, Infectious Diseases, Infectious Diseases Emergencies, Healthcare
On April 3, 2020, the Ontario government expanded the list of non-essential businesses that will be required to close while the province courageously battles to control the spread of COVID-19. Under Regulation 82/20, the Ontario government had previously provided a list of businesses that it had deemed essential and that could remain open during the current health emergency.
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Developer required to answer discovery questions about misleading other buyers
Thursday, March 23, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationAgreement of Purchase and Sale, Real Estate
During the course of litigation, plaintiffs may seek evidence that a defendant has engaged in a similar pattern of impugned conduct with other people who...
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Real estate agent sued for misrepresenting identity of buyer
Monday, February 27, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationRules of Civil Procedure, Real Estate
In Ker v. Deol, 2023 ONSC 1167 (CanLII), a motion judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice considered whether the buyer’s real estate agent could be added as a defendant in a lawsuit brought...
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Ontario Lacrosse Association Defeats Competitor’s Motion for Injunction
Monday, February 27, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationMembership, Injunction, Sports Law, Organizations
Competition amongst sporting organizations vying for eligible, talented athletes is commonplace. Accordingly, organizations take steps to...
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Court of Appeal affirms that entire agreement clause is not bullet-proof
Friday, February 24, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationReal Estate, Contracts, Commercial Tenancies, Entire Agreement Clauses
Drafting clear, concise and bullet-proof provisions in a contract is an art. It takes time and a complete understanding of a client’s agreement with...
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Plaintiff fails to prove notary public's error was the cause of losses from real estate transaction
Friday, February 17, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationBritish Columbia, Real Estate, Negligence, Professional Negligence
In a professional negligence claim, a plaintiff must establish not only that a defendant breached the applicable standard of care but that the breach was the factual cause of the losses being claimed. Depending on the...
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Plaintiffs unable to establish terms of contract and entitlement to funds paid to trucking company
Friday, February 17, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationContracts
Business relationships between different parties are generally governed by contracts. To be enforceable, a contract must have certainty of terms that are agreed to by the...
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Defence of qualified privilege available to Township for posting letters from public
Monday, February 13, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationMunicipal Act, Courts of Justice Act, Planning Act
Municipal site plan applications have a public component that may expose an applicant to complaints from people who are opposed to their plans. As part of the...
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Former Chamber of Commerce employee's defamation action allowed to continue
Monday, February 13, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Anti-SLAPP, Defamation, Motion Dismissed
Although section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act (the “CJA”), the “anti-SLAPP provision”, has become a powerful tool to dismiss defamation actions at an early stage, there is certainly no guarantee that its use will always be...
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Owner of corporation faces personal liability for stripping assets following lease default
Friday, February 10, 2023James R.G. CookLitigation
Corporations are separate legal persons with their own property rights and obligations. Individual shareholders are not generally liable for any acts or...
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"Sugar Daddy's" $226 million action against "Sugar Baby" dismissed
Friday, February 10, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationSummary Judgment, Civil Procedure, Limitation Periods
Technology has expanded the ability of people to meet others who they otherwise may have never met in a purely paper-based world. Indeed, entrepreneurs have...
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Seller ordered to obtain severance of residential properties to complete transaction
Friday, February 3, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Ontario Planning Act
In a real estate transaction, the seller must be in a position to ensure that good title is conveyed to a buyer at closing. In the time leading up to...
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Does a bank have a duty to warn a customer before carrying out a suspicious transaction?
Tuesday, January 31, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationBritish Columbia, Fraud, Exclusion Clauses, Application for Remittance
If a customer walks into a bank and asks a teller to carry out a certain transaction, does the bank owe the customer a duty to...
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Complaint about changes to Greenbelt Plan against Premier Ford not worthy of inquiry
Friday, January 27, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationPolitical Law, Integrity Commissioner Complaint, Dismissal
Premier Doug Ford continues to be the target of Integrity Commissioner complaints by opposing members of Ontario’s legislators. Although there is...
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Seller allowed to re-schedule Tarion closing date following
Friday, January 27, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationOntario, Agreement of Purchase and Sale, Real Estate
New homes in Ontario may include a warranty from the builder for certain construction deficiencies and other...
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Freedom of expression prevails in responses to COVID-19 protest organizers’ defamation action
Monday, January 16, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Anti-SLAPP, Defamation
March 2020 will live in our memories forever. It is the month that, among other things, the world panicked, that governments issued emergency orders to shutdown...
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Court orders removal of Facebook posts under cyber-bullying law
Friday, January 6, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationRemedies, Cyber-bullying, Removal of online posts
The use of social media to threaten, intimidate or harass someone is an obvious cause of concern in our society. Young people are particularly vulnerable to social media harassment or what has...
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Claim against Google for hosting defamatory reviews allowed to proceed
Friday, January 6, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationDefamation, Removal of online posts, Google, Online Reviews
Online search engines such as Google allow businesses to market their services to a wide customer base. Businesses may also be subject to online reviews which are...
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Lender can't evict bona fide tenants from property notwithstanding mortgagor's fraud
Monday, December 19, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationResidential Tenancies, Mortgage Fraud, Real Estate, Ontario Mortgages Act, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Mortgage
Courts must occasionally balance property interests between innocent parties who have been victimized by the dishonest or fraudulent conduct of another person. This may involve a conflict between...
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Insurer De-Listing: The Hidden Penalty of a Health Professions' Discipline Committee Finding
Monday, December 12, 2022Lad KucisLitigation, Health LawDisciplinary Hearing
As a lawyer who regularly assists regulated health professionals (RHPs) in matters before their respective Discipline Committees, I wanted to alert RHPs about...
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Interlocutory injunction denied for failure to provide undertaking in damages
Friday, December 9, 2022Stephen A. Thiele, Alexander Melfi, Rob WintersteinLitigationRules of Civil Procedure
An interlocutory injunction is a powerful and drastic remedy which Courts have said should only be granted sparingly. In that regard,...
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Letters Rogatory for disclosure in California divorce proceeding enforced in Ontario
Friday, December 9, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationCanada Evidence Act, Ontario Evidence Act
As a matter of international comity, Ontario courts will take steps to recognize and enforce requests for assistance issued by foreign courts provided that certain...
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Responding to Complaints Before the College of Chiropractors of Ontario: A Defence Lawyer's Perspective
Thursday, December 8, 2022Lad KucisLitigation, Health LawComplaints, College of Chiropractors of Ontario
As legal counsel for chiropractors, we are regularly asked questions about the complaints process before the College of...
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Court orders production of subsequent lawyer's file
Friday, December 2, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigation
Although solicitor-client privilege is a fundamental civil and legal right belonging to a client, the right is not absolute and...
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