Our Take On Things

These days if you listen to ads on the radio you  may think that if you have been terminated from your job, you’re entitled to  a lot of money from your former employer. You may be, but as we lawyers love to say “it depends”.   As a firm that only...

The Ontario Small Claims Court is finally allowing Settlement Conferences to proceed on all matters where a Defence has been filed, regardless of the filing date. Up until March 16, 2021, the Small Claims Court was only accepting requests for Settlement Conferences on...

I moved my son to virtual learning for this school year.  While I don’t want to get into a debate about why I did that, I was laughing because I thought sick days and snow days would no longer exist. Similarly, they wouldn’t exist for people who work from...

That got your attention, didn’t it? Well, we all know what sells these days. Now that your listening, today’s topic is actually about a specific type of legal trust: the “naked” or (as we’ll call it) a “bare” trust. Don’t look so disappointed, just “bare” with us, it...

I recently finished a two day Bankrutpcy hearing using Caselines and Zoom in the Province of Ontario.   While the issues were simple, the use of an interpreter added some challenges as well as the continual dropping of the Zoom connection to the Court...

I have been writing blogs for the firm now for a while and when I was first asked to start writing, the first thought that came to my mind was “Who is going to read a blog by a Law Clerk?”  The second thought I had was “What the heck am I going to write about?”...

When companies do business with one another, there is usually a fair amount of paperwork involved. This is the case for both small and large businesses – or rather it should be. If there is no paperwork involved in your business transactions, then we need to be having...

It is important as a business to read your contracts when you are provided services from other businesses.  It is also important that you understand the terms of those contracts, your obligations, and the service provider’s obligations under those contracts....

Yesterday was a big day in the Province of Ontario: there are no more Civil Courts that do not permit service by email. Our first reaction? Get rid of our fax line. Ah, such a liberating feeling - walking into 2021 fax free. I am particularly glad to be free of the...

I thought I would expand from my last blog on virtual hearings and touch on the Dress Code, sort of.  By now I’m sure most of you have seen bloopers of virtual meeting fails, and most recently the Lawyer in Texas getting stuck with a cat filter during a...

A Defendant may make an offer to settle at some point during litigation. Should you accept that offer made by a Defendant? The first thing to consider is whether you feel the offer is reasonable.  There is no mathematical formula to determine if an offer is...

I’m a millennial, there I said it. I like avocados and I’ve used the expression “YOLO” in a non-ironic way (it was a long time ago!). Stereotypes aside, millennials have achieved a lot, including changing the face of business with the advent of the modern day...

COVID-19 (yes, that again) has forced many online filings and hearings.  Slowly the Courts are getting up to speed with on-line filings.  Just recently the Small Claims Court has expanded the on-line filing and hearings, meanwhile, the Superior Court had...

I recently attended a CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Webinar about remote court hearings to get a better idea how its going to work when I eventually have to participate in one.  The main theme of the Small Claims Court component of that CPD was that...

There are few guarantees in life, but this is one of them: no government lawyer is ever going to draft legislation that says lawyers are not essential.    Given the above, you may think that we are packing our offices full of staff in face masks because we...

Its finally 2021 and perhaps (like me) you are trying to set a goal of getting more exercise this year, especially since in the past year many of us have made the transition from going into the office to working from home, and as a result of this (and other factors...

Happy New Year and congratulations all! You have officially made it through one remarkably tough year. Massive fires, violent protests, impeachment acquittals, murder hornets, royal runaways, Tiger Kings, cringey presidential debates – oh yes, and a global pandemic....

I must have made the naughty list this year as I’m the one writing the final blog of 2020 for the firm. It’s been a year.  Thankfully, with the vaccines, there is hope that by December 31, 2020 we may be thankful for in person celebrations again at that time....

The holidays are approaching, and everyone is getting into the spirit of things.  Decorations were up early, shopping was started early.  Everyone is looking for something to brighten their day in these times.  When I see my lit tree in my window...

The Pandemic has changed many facets of our daily lives and our economy as a whole. Many individuals and businesses have had to adapt in order to be able to keep up with the many regulations and restrictions that have been imposed due to COVID-19.  The Court...

When is a Court not a Court?  When it is the Ontario Small Claims Court apparently. Despite the Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice saying that the Courts never closed, that’s not true for the Small Claims division of that Court. Unlike...