Civil Litigation
-
October 09, 2025
The horrors of homemade wills: When good intentions go bad
It’s a story estate lawyers know all too well: someone decides to “save a few bucks” by writing their own will — only for the family to end up spending thousands in legal fees after their death. While homemade wills might seem like a simple solution, the reality is far more complicated. The law sets out strict requirements for how a will must be made, and even the smallest misstep can leave your loved ones in legal limbo.
-
October 09, 2025
Employment law: Suing during a notice period
Imagine this scenario: a 30-year employee is told their employment will end and given 12 months of working notice. They consult a lawyer, who advises that they are entitled to substantially more. They raise the issue, but the employer tells them bluntly that no further notice will be given and that they should get back to work. The employee then instructs their lawyer to file a Statement of Claim, which is then served while they are still working.
-
October 09, 2025
REMEDIES - Equitable remedies - Specific performance
Appeal by Nova Fish from summary trial judge’s decision. Cold Ocean agreed to sell several trout farms to Nova Fish under an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (the Agreement). The trout farms were leased on property from the provincial government.
-
October 08, 2025
Fraser calls provinces’ demand to scrap Ottawa’s SCC arguments on notwithstanding clause ‘untenable’
Attorney General of Canada Sean Fraser has pushed back against the demands of five premiers that Ottawa should drop its novel arguments at the Supreme Court that there are substantive constraints on governments’ powers to invoke the Charter’s s. 33 “notwithstanding” clause — arguments that those five provinces contend “represent a complete disavowal of the constitutional bargain that brought the Charter into being” in 1982.
-
October 08, 2025
Proposed Uber Eats drip pricing class action to be arbitrated: Federal Court of Appeal
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal of a Federal Court decision that stayed a putative class action against alleged drip pricing practices by Uber Eats in favour of arbitration, agreeing with the lower court’s findings on consumer protection laws, incapability of performance and inequality of bargaining power.
-
October 08, 2025
Federal Court rules port operator’s $17K liability cap applies to $6.4M claim over iron ore mix-up
The Federal Court has ruled that a port operator can rely on a $17,023 liability cap against a $6.4-million claim after it loaded about 21,000 tonnes of iron ore onto the wrong ship.
-
October 08, 2025
Justice system doesn’t work if court orders become discretionary: lawyer
An Ontario court has given a warning that defendants should be wary of paying out settlement funds when facing a charging order. That was the finding by a three-judge divisional panel of the Ontario Superior Court in an action revolving around the enforcement of a charging order in a motor vehicle accident case.
-
October 08, 2025
Substantial estate compliance: Limit of court’s curative power
In June 2025, my colleague, Michael G. von Keitz, wrote an article that reviewed a trio of cases (Salmon v. Rombough, 2024 ONSC 1186; Re: O’Neill Estate, 2024 ONSC 2228; and Urback v. Canadian Cancer Society et al., 2025 ONSC 3313) each of which further clarified the boundaries of substantial compliance legislation in Ontario.
-
October 08, 2025
CIVIL PROCEDURE - Parties - Class or representative actions
Appeal by attorney general from Federal Court decision. There were two questions of law before the Federal Court. First, could the estate of a deceased member of a class action have claimed damages for breach of s. 11(h) Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms right? If the answer to this was yes, did provincial estates statutes providing for an “alive as of” date prohibit or limit recovery of those Charter damages?
-
October 07, 2025
Federal Court rules CORE’s findings not justiciable, dismisses union’s review request
The Federal Court has dismissed an application for judicial review of a final report by the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), ruling that the ombudsperson’s findings are advisory in nature and therefore not justiciable.