Blog
Blog
Director personally liable for corporation’s operating line but not Visa account (RBC v. 1108135 Ontario Inc.)
Friday, June 13, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationLiability, Operating Line
In many cases where a small corporation borrows money, the lender will seek a personal commitment from the corporation’s owner to repay the debt, whether by way of a guarantee contained in the loan agreement or otherwise...
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Failure to adduce expert evidence in professional negligence claim fatal to plaintiff (Korlyakov v. Riesz)
Tuesday, June 10, 2025Eli Bordman, Isabel YooLitigationStandard of Care, Negligence, Real Estate
A key element in a negligence action is the definition of the standard of care...
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Developer hit with $25,000 damages award on anti-SLAPP motion (Sheridan Retail Inc. v. Roy)
Monday, June 9, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, Anti-SLAPP Motion, Granted
The anti-SLAPP provisions of the Courts of Justice Act (“CJA”) are powerful...
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There is no right to party (Waterloo (City) v. Persons Unknown)
Tuesday, June 3, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationMunicipal Law, By-Laws, Injunction
Social media, among other things, allows people to organize “pop up” events that can result in the gathering of large crowds...
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The Trump Administration and FMSCA Increase Enforcement of English Proficiency Requirements for Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
Monday, June 2, 2025Tyler O’HenlyLitigationTransportation & Logistics, Motor vehicles, Trump
On April 28, 2025, U.S. President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for America’s Truck Drivers”...
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Truck Trailer Liability: A Cautionary Tale – Nuclear and Thermonuclear Verdicts
Monday, June 2, 2025Rui FernandesLitigationTransportation & Logistics, Trucking, Nuclear Verdict
Canadian trucking companies operating in the United States should take note of the most recent U.S. court decision awarding $462 million to the families of two men for their deaths when they crashed into the back of a trailer...
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Freight Brokers Take Note: Pending Amendments to the Freight Broker Regulations in the United States
Monday, June 2, 2025M. Gordon HearnLitigationTransportation & Logistics, Freight
Canadian freight brokers who arrange the carriage of goods over United States routes have long been advised to comply with American laws...
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Federal Court of Appeal Finds Facebook (Meta) in Breach of PIPEDA Introduction
Monday, June 2, 2025Jamal RehmanLitigationTransportation & Logistics, Facebook
The Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) released a landmark ruling on September 9, 2024 in its decision of Privacy Commissioner of Canada v. Facebook, Inc., 2024 FCA 140...
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Geographical Deviation Does Not Defeat the One Year Time Bar in the Hague-Visby Rules
Monday, June 2, 2025Rui FernandesLitigationTransportation & Logistics, Hague-Visby
In ETG Commodities Inc. v. Hapag-Lloyd (Canada) Inc., 2025 FC 474, the Federal Court of Canada had to consider two issues...
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Defendants liable for costs of $579,000 in $58,000 claim (Gesualdi v. Conti)
Friday, May 30, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationLiability, Claim, Costs
Costs in Ontario court proceedings are generally awarded based on principles of success, proportionality, and the reasonable expectations of the parties...
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Buyer entitled to recover deposit after seller misrepresented legality of addition (Sewell v. Abadian)
Thursday, May 29, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationBuyer, Misrepresentation, Addition
In disputes where a buyer alleges that a seller made misrepresentations about the property being purchased, courts will generally focus on whether the representations were contained in the contract for the transaction or were otherwise reasonably relied upon by the buyer...
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Lawyer escapes contempt consequences after using AI-generated case law (Ko v. Li)
Friday, May 23, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationAI, Fake Case
In a follow up to the decision we discussed in Factum containing fake case law likely generated by AI submitted in Ontario litigation (Ko v. Li), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declined to order any sanctions against a lawyer who had submitted fake case law to the court that had been generated by AI on the basis that she had already gained notoriety from the widespread publication of reports concerning the show cause order in both the legal and the general press: Ko v. Li, 2025 ONSC 2965 (CanLII)...
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Developer can’t charge buyer for adjustments not included in Agreement of Purchase and Sale (Bellisario v. 2200 Bromsgrove Development Inc.)
Thursday, May 15, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationDevelopment, Buyer, Agreement of Purchase and Sale
Over the past few years, there have been several media reports of developers in Ontario attempting to levy charges against buyers for various matters that were not included in the original purchase price....
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Use of fake cases by a lawyer qualifies quite clearly as professional misconduct (R. (Ayinde) v. The London Borough of Haringey)
Friday, May 9, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationBarristers and Solicitors , Legal Research , Artificial Intelligence, Fake Cases
We have written several blogs about the use of fakes cases by lawyers to support arguments made in court...
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Factum containing fake case law likely generated by AI submitted in Ontario litigation (Ko v. Li)
Thursday, May 8, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationAI, Fake Case
ChatGPT and other generative AI (artificial intelligence) platforms have the potential to provide litigants with an efficient tool to research and understand the legal concepts and governing authorities that are applicable to their disputes. AI may provide valuable assistance in this regard...
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Court of Appeal upholds decision to dismiss defamation action of dog-sled business (Windrift Adventures Inc. v. CTV-Bell Media Inc.)
Monday, May 5, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, SLAPP, Action Dismissed
One of the purposes of section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act (“CJA”) is to discourage the use of litigation as a means of unduly limiting expression on a matters of public interest...
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Town’s short-term rental by-law enforceable against tenant (Munir v. Garg)
Friday, May 2, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationMunicipal Law, By-Laws, Short Term Rentals
Platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO allow property owners to rent their property to others on both a long-term and short-term basis...
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Developer restrained from interfering with use of right-of-way during condominium construction (Figaro Dominion v. The Incumbent)
Friday, May 2, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationCondominium, Construction , Development, Real Estate
Neighbouring property owners who have a shared laneway or other land that is subject to a right-of-way are generally not permitted to interfere with each other’s established use of the right-of-way at issue...
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Toronto cyclists gain a reprieve: government enjoined from removing bike lanes (Cycle Toronto v. Ontario (Attorney General))
Friday, April 25, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationConstitutional Law , Charter, Interlocutory Injunction, Section 7, Interlocutory injunction granted
In Canadian law, government enactments that potentially infringe the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ...
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Buyer cannot force seller to remove notice registered on title by third party (Brighton Breeze Ltd. v. Noel Property Management Ltd.)
Friday, April 25, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationAgreement of Purchase and Sale, Real Estate, Ontario, Land Title Act
An agreement of purchase and sale (APS) for a real estate transaction may contain a term allowing a buyer to demand that a seller take steps...
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Departing employees ordered to return and destroy confidential information (Mondee, Inc. v. Voyzant Inc.)
Monday, April 21, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationEmployee, Employer, Employment Agreements, Damages
For a business, the loss of key employees to a competitor can be devastating. While departing employees may not take their employer’s confidential...
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No basis to pierce corporate veil in aborted real estate transaction (Dawood v. Popes Property Holdings Inc.)
Thursday, April 10, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Property, Transactions
In some real estate transactions, individuals may negotiate an agreement in which they do not wish to incur personal liability and may use a shell or holding company for that purpose...
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Dispute over exchange of keys leads to five years of litigation over sale of church property (Gyimah v. The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of The Diocese of Hearst in Ontario)
Tuesday, April 8, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationProperty, Dispute
Courts generally expect parties to a real estate transaction to work together to ensure that it is completed as scheduled...
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Toronto cyclists refused injunction to prevent government’s removal of traffic congesting bike lanes (Cycle Toronto v. Ontario (Attorney General))
Friday, April 4, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationConstitutional Law , Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Injunction, Denied
In an earlier blog I wrote about the decision...
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Cottage islanders’ association denied proprietary estoppel claim for control over municipal docks (Grape Island Property Owners Association Inc. v. Corporation of the City of Orillia)
Friday, April 4, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationProprietary, Estoppel, Cottage
The dispute in Grape Island Property Owners Association Inc. v. Corporation of the City of Orillia, 2025 ONSC 1480 involved a property owners association of cottagers and full-time residents of an island on Lake Simcoe, Ontario against the City of Orilla...
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Plaintiff’s defamation claim against siblings survives Anti-SLAPP motion (The Estate of Colombe Quesnel v. G. Quesnel)
Thursday, April 3, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationDefamation, Claim, Anti-SLAPP Motion
Family feuds can be bitter and nasty...
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Protecting safe places to consume drugs outweighs protecting disorder around supervised consumption sites (The Neighbourhood Group v. HMKT)
Wednesday, April 2, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationConstitutional Law , Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Injunction
In Ontario, government action taken by Premier Ford has caused much litigation because political opponents to the Premier have been unable to crack his personal popularity and the popularity of his government’s views on issues such as the redevelopment of Ontario Place or the removal of bike lanes on major roadways, particularly in Toronto...
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Do requisitions concerning gas leases go to root of title? (Van Hove v. Dryuff)
Tuesday, April 1, 2025James R.G. Cook, Isabel YooLitigationReal Estate, Agreement of Purchase and Sale, Root of Title
In a real estate transaction, the agreement of purchase and sale will include a deadline by which a buyer may submit requisitions for issues that they want the seller to address prior to closing...
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Claim for ineffective assistance of counsel dismissed as a collateral attack (Mann v. Royle)
Friday, March 28, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationClaim, Dismissed
In some cases, the doctrines of collateral attack and abuse of process may be invoked to strike a claim where a plaintiff has failed to pursue remedies, such as an appeal, which were available in earlier proceedings...
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Has the Court of Appeal made it harder to succeed on a SLAPP motion in a defamation case? (Benchwood Builders Inc. v. Prescott)
Thursday, March 27, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, SLAPP, Test
For many years, I have written about defamation cases and SLAPP motions in which defendants have sought the early dismissal of defamation actions under section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act (“CJA”) or under the equivalent British Columbia anti-SLAPP law...
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