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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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Entire Agreement Clause Insufficient to Protect Landlord’s Negligent Misrepresentations
Tuesday, January 31, 2023Daniel KuhnreichBusiness Law, Corporate LawCommercial Real Estate, Lease Agreement
In its January 12th 2023 decision of Spot Coffee Park Place Inc v Concord Adex Investments Limited 2023 ONCA 15 (CanLII), the Ontario...
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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 “unavoidable delay”
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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Lending Against a Partial Beneficial Interest?
Thursday, January 26, 2023Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Real Estate, Corporate Law
A beneficial interest is an individual’s right to benefit from assets held by someone else. With respect to real property, it is imperative...
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Ontario Court of Appeal Adds Good Faith Requirement for Rescission under the Condominium Act
Wednesday, January 18, 2023Business Law, Corporate LawAgreement of Purchase and Sale, GTA Real Estate, Condominium Act
Chang Jiu Chen, the Appellant in the December 20th 2022 decision of Chen v Brookfield Residential (Ontario) Limited, signed an agreement of....
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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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Toronto’s New Vacant Home Tax: A Brief Introduction
Wednesday, January 11, 2023Ian SpiegelCorporate LawGTA Real Estate, Tax and Estate Planning
The City of Toronto has implemented a new annual tax on vacant residences, payable beginning in 2023. A Vacant Home Tax of...
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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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How Do I Get All My Lender Fees?
Wednesday, December 14, 2022Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Real Estate, Corporate LawLending, Interest Act, Commercial Mortgage Lenders
In Canada, lenders who take mortgages on real property as security should be mindful of section 8 of the Interest Act (the “Act”) and...
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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, Interlocutory Injunction
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. ThieleLitigationEvidence, Privilege, Solicitor-Client, Waiver
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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Anti-SLAPP motion fails to stop Canadian Tire’s claim against alleged perpetrators of fraudulent after-sales service program
Friday, December 2, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationFraud, Courts of Justice Act, Anti-SLAPP
Motions under section 137.1 of the Ontario Courts of Justice Act (CJA) are typically brought to dismiss defamation claims involving expressions on matters of public interest. However, while the...
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Council Resolution Restricting Communications of Councillor Unreasonable and Punitive
Friday, December 2, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationPolitical Law, Remedies, Integrity Commissioner, Judicial Review
Municipal governments are said to have the most influence on the day-to-day lives of residents. Accordingly, city staff and elected representatives, who in Ontario run as independent...
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Neighbour ordered to remove obstructions on mutual driveway
Thursday, December 1, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate
As we discussed in a previous blog, an easement may become abandoned as a legal right as a result of prolonged lack of use. However, there is...
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Defamatory statements made in a pleading are immune to attack
Friday, November 25, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationDefences, Torts, Defamation, Absolute Privilege
The law of defamation permits a defendant to raise specialized defences to defeat a claim. The most common defences are...
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Court declines to intervene in dispute over governance of not-for-profit clubs
Friday, November 25, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationNot-for-Profit/Charities
Members of not-for-profit organizations should generally try to resolve their differences pursuant to their rules and by-laws before...
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Amendments to professional negligence claim denied following tardy expert report
Monday, November 21, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationRules of Civil Procedure, Negligence
Pleadings frame an action and determine the evidence that will be called at trial. The rules of pleadings generally require that...
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Home owner obtains certificate of pending litigation to stop power of sale
Friday, November 18, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Courts of Justice Act
Parties who are seeking an interest in a property may seek to register a certificate of pending litigation (CPL) on title for the...
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Damages in a defamation action
Friday, November 18, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationDamages, Torts, Defamation
Reputational harm is serious. It can have devastating impacts on the person whose reputation has...
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Female mining executive’s defamation claim against government employee allowed to proceed
Tuesday, November 15, 2022Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, SLAPP, Defamation
Ontario and British Columbia are the only two common law provinces that have anti-SLAPP legislation. This legislation permits the early dismissal of claims that...
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In-house lawyer breached fiduciary obligations by negotiating self-interested agreements
Tuesday, November 15, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationGeneral Counsel Agreement, Unanimous Shareholder Agreement
Lawyers entering into business relationships with their clients should generally ensure that the clients receive meaningful independent legal advice on any agreement...
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Therapists not personally liable for debts of bankrupt sports medicine clinic
Thursday, November 10, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationSports, Bankruptcy, COVID-19, Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Business Corporations Act
A creditor who sees the owners of a bankrupt company start up a new profitably-looking business while walking away from the prior company’s debts may understandably feel that they have...
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Limitation Period bars claim for breach of Assignment of Agreement of Purchase and Sale
Wednesday, November 9, 2022James R.G. CookLitigationAgreement of Purchase and Sale, Real Estate, Limitation Periods, Limitations Act, 2002
In Ontario, there is a general two-year limitation period for claims relating to a breach of contract which starts on the day when a plaintiff discovers that damage from a breach occurred and knows that a legal proceeding would be an...
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