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Defamation action against “consumer alert” reporter dismissed (Boraks v. Hussein)
Tuesday, September 19, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, SLAPP, Dismissal of Action
In general, ordinary consumers of goods and services are viewed as a vulnerable class. While in certain circumstances, consumers can be protected by...
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Buyer fails to prove property re-sold for improvident price following aborted transaction
Tuesday, September 19, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Agreement of Purchase and Sale
In collapsing real estate markets, buyers who fail to complete a purchase may face liability vastly exceeding any deposit they may have paid. In most cases, the...
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Partition Act application denied due to oppression (Stothers v. Kazeks)
Thursday, September 14, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationGTA Real Estate, Real Estate, Partition Act, Common Law Relationship
When properties are owned by two or more persons, situations may arise when one of the owners wishes to sell the property contrary to the wishes of the other. The Ontario Partition Act provides a way for...
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No damages caused by listing agent’s failure to recommend legal advice (Stanley v. Grech)
Friday, September 8, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Strata Property Act
In some cases, real estate agents should recommend that their clients obtain legal advice about a proposed...
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Buyer’s failure to obtain severance amounted to anticipatory breach of contract (Stayside Corporation v. Cyndric Group)
Friday, August 25, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Agreement of Purchase and Sale, Ontario Planning Act
Agreements for the sale of real estate may sometimes require one of the parties to complete certain steps before the transaction can be completed, such as...
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Balancing Freedom of Expression with the Standards of a Regulated Profession (Peterson v. College of Psychologists of Ontario)
Thursday, August 24, 2023Isabel YooLitigationCollege of Psychologists of Ontario, Rules of Professional Conduct
In its highly anticipated decision, the Divisional Court has dismissed Dr. Jordan Peterson’s application for judicial review of the November 2022 decision of the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports...
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Court of Appeal upholds dismissal of anti-SLAPP motion in trucking protest case (2110120 Ontario Inc. v. Buttar)
Friday, August 18, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, SLAPP Motion, Dismissed
Last April, I wrote a blog about a motion judge’s decision to dismiss an anti-SLAPP motion in a trucking protest case on the grounds that the dispute between the parties...
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Lawyers obtain interlocutory injunction to stop defamatory social media posts (Leeb v. Kenny)
Friday, August 18, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationInterlocutory Injunction, Internet Harassment
As we have previously discussed, online defamation and harassment have become a major issues in Canadian society. Given the notoriously slow speed of civil proceedings, plaintiffs may...
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AirBnB unit not covered under residential tenancy law
Monday, August 14, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationResidential Tenancy, Exemptions, Landlord and Tenant
A vacationer has a variety of accommodation options when travelling in a foreign destination. A vacationer might...
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Contributions to Multi-Generational Home does not Constitute Unjust Enrichment (Sidhu v. Sidhu)
Monday, August 14, 2023Isabel YooLitigationReal Estate, Trusts, Unjust Enrichment
A growing trend in home use is multi-generational housing, which is, as the term implies, multiple generations of...
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Two-year limitation period applies to fraudulent conveyance actions (Bank of Montreal v. Iskenderov)
Thursday, August 10, 2023Isabel YooLitigationLimitations Act, Fraudulent Conveyances Act, Real Property Limitations Act
An important consideration for determining whether (and when) to pursue litigation is the limitation period, which is the time limit by which...
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The perils of using joint tenancy for estate planning (Jackson v. Rosenberg)
Wednesday, August 9, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationProbate, Real Estate, Tax & Estate Planning
In Ontario, properties may be registered in joint tenancy as an estate planning mechanism. Property that is jointly owned passes automatically to...
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Court refuses to impose 5 pm deadline for delivery of real estate closing proceeds (More v. 1362279 Ontario Ltd. (Seiko Homes))
Tuesday, August 8, 2023James R.G. Cook, Eli BordmanLitigationReal Estate, Agreement of Purchase and Sale
Real estate transactions may be scheduled to be completed by a certain time of day, depending on the wording of the Agreement of Purchase...
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Mortgage provided by corporate borrower with apparent authority is not a “fraudulent instrument” (Froom v. LaFontaine)
Thursday, August 3, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationLand Title Act, Real Estate
The Ontario Land Titles Act (“LTA”) provides that a registered mortgage that is determined to be a fraudulent instrument is void and may...
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Defamatory Facebook Posts Prove Costly – Part 2 (Robinson v. Niganobe)
Wednesday, August 2, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationFacebook, Defamation, Social Media
As we have previously discussed, defamatory posts on Facebook and similar social media platforms can be...
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Torts that Might Apply in a Dispute Between Neighbours in a Condominium (Novakovic v. Salvador)
Tuesday, August 1, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation
Part of the purpose of our blogs is to help educate the reader about the law and the tests that apply to various causes of...
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Letters Rogatory application against Ontario lawyer dismissed (Hospira Healthcare v. Rotsztain)
Tuesday, August 1, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationOntario Evidence Act, Canada Evidence Act
Courts in Canada and the United States often seek each other’s assistance to gather evidence for use in local proceedings. The process by...
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A review of the test for anti-SLAPP motions (Yates v. Iron Horse Corporation and St. Martin)
Monday, July 31, 2023Isabel YooLitigationTorts, Defamation, Anti-SLAPP
The acronym “SLAPP” is short for “strategic lawsuits against public participation”. These are tools used to intimidate or silence criticism by engaging the critic with...
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Novel family violence tort has no place in Ontario law, Court of Appeal rules (Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia)
Friday, July 28, 2023James R.G. Cook, Delila BikicLitigationDivorce Act
In July 2023, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that a novel tort specific to “family violence” should not have been created...
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A Lawyer’s Office is not a Drop Box for Service (Yuk-Shum v. Jiang)
Thursday, July 27, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, Procedure, Notice
Service of an originating process, like a statement of claim, or other court documents is, in general, governed by the...
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The law of defamation in a nutshell (Stratuscent Inc. v. Chehade)
Monday, July 24, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationDefamation, Torts, Remedies, Injunction
Over the past few years, we have written a lot of blogs on the law of defamation...
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Use of a thumbs-up emoji creates a valid and binding contract
Monday, July 17, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationContracts, Formation, Acceptance, Electronic Signature
In a groundbreaking legal ruling, a Saskatchewan court has recognized that a thumbs-up emoji (👍) can be a...
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Real estate agent not liable for taking instructions from buyer’s spouse
Friday, July 14, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, British Columbia
Real estate agents often represent co-owners or potential buyers during the course of a transaction and at times they may receive communications from...
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Neighbour dispute over driveway and location of well ends up in court (Bender v. Dulovic)
Thursday, July 13, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Easement, Right-of-way Access, Ontario Boundaries Act
Disputes between neighbours over property boundaries and rights-of-way are often messy and fraught with charged emotions as each party asserts their...
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Defamatory Online Postings and Cyber-Bullying Leads to One of the Highest Defamation Awards in Canada
Wednesday, July 12, 2023Isabel YooLitigationTorts, Defamation, Damages, Internet
Online defamatory statements have the potential to reach a global audience and maintain a perpetual existence. It is impossible to...
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$50,000 costs guideline for successful anti-SLAPP motion not applied again
Thursday, July 6, 2023Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, SLAPP, Costs
As we have written before, Canada’s civil court system is “a loser pays” jurisdiction. In general, a party that loses a motion or...
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FCA Upholds TRREB’s Copyright Claims In Its TRREB MLS System
Monday, June 26, 2023Diana MansourLitigation, Intellectual PropertyCopyright, Copyright Act, Real Estate
On March 28, 2023, the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada (FCA), in IMS Incorporated v Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, 2023 FCA 70, upheld...
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Court of Appeal denies stay of termination of commercial tenancy
Friday, June 23, 2023Alexander MelfiLitigationAppeals, Motion, Stay of Order
Under Ontario’s Rules of Civil Procedure, a party which commences an appeal of a Court Order for the payment of money is entitled...
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Ontario action against national law firm stayed in favour of Alberta
Friday, June 23, 2023Stephen A. Thiele, Gavin J. Tighe, K.C., Allison FarleyLitigationCivil Procedure, Stay of Proceedings, Forum Selection Clause, Forum Non Conveniens
A plaintiff has the right to commence a proceeding in a jurisdiction of their choosing. However, this right is not absolute. Where the issues in the proceeding are...
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Realtor’s action for invasion of privacy and conspiracy dismissed under Anti-SLAPP law (Riopelle v. Riopelle)
Monday, June 12, 2023James R.G. CookLitigationAnti-SLAPP, Courts of Justice Act, Real Estate
Court decisions continue to show that Ontario’s “Anti-SLAPP” legislation may be used to dismiss claims that are not limited to...
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