Our Take On Things

The Law Society of Ontario's Bencher's elections are in full swing. There are many candidates, some running for specific causes and some running because they want the Law Society to have Benchers whose average year of call is not 27 years. So. That was interesting....

Spring has sprung so you know what that means – it’s time to Spring Clean, and no I don’t mean your house.    Now that winter is done (hopefully there won’t be anymore snow days), you should take a look at refreshing the office and dusting off those cobwebs,...

Who have you appointed as your power of attorney? How about the estate trustee in your will? People don’t often give enough thought to the appointment of their powers of attorney and the estate trustee for their wills. We won’t even get started about the people who...

You got a Notice of Garnishment telling you that your bank, another person who owes you money or your employer has been "garnished": what does that mean? Well, it usually means that you failed to file a defence to an action you were named as a defendant, and then...

The word professional is battered about a lot these days. When I first went to law school, it was said that the difference between a profession and an occupation is that professionals have to put their clients, students and patients before themselves. That makes a lot...

Often times when drafting your Will, you can feel pressure to pick the right individual for the many roles that are involved in administering a Will.  For example, people have a hard time selecting what they want to do in the event of a family tragedy, or in the...

A few months later, and here we finally are! We present to you the much anticipated (well, we like to think so) final installment of the Good Lawyer!   As a short recap, in our previous posts we have already pointed out the value of having/or being a lawyer...

Before you proceed with or defending a lawsuit based upon principle, you must ask yourself: is this a good idea?  Most of the time, the answer will be no. Throughout my career, clients have instructed me to proceeded with litigation based on principle, and not...

If you're not an Ontario Lawyer, then this Blog is not for you. This is about our upcoming Bencher Election for the Law Society of Ontario. Benchers are elected representatives of Ontario Lawyers and regulate the conduct of Lawyers in Ontario. I'm looking for a...

It is very important that you are always honest with your lawyer or paralegal about the issues in a court case.  Even if it makes puts you in a bad light.  Full disclosure is key in a successful client/representative relationship. If you are not honest with...

I always find it funny the cycles that our law firm goes through.  It could be a few weeks, a few months, or even sometimes a year before we deal with a certain type of law.  Whether it be Construction Liens, registering a Certificate of Pending Litigation...

Welcome back to our segment of “The Good Lawyer.” One resolution everyone should be making for 2019 is to not settle for less than what you deserve – and since we are a law firm, of course we mean in terms of your legal services! We’ve already discussed the importance...

I love the first couple of weeks after January 1 - it is the time of year you get to see which resolutions are sticking for those who made them.   Many lawyers I know were resolving to have work/life balance for 2019 and finding it hard to keep. I will not...

There have been many stories from tenants who claim that their landlords terminated their tenancies, claiming personal use, only to turn around and re-rent it for a much higher rate of rent. In 2017, the rules around a Landlord’s ability to terminate a tenancy based...

Warning - rant ahead.  Worse, it's a rant that only lawyers probably care about.  Read on at your own peril. There are many days, well frankly all of them, that I'm glad I refused to take Family Law in law school so I couldn't practice it.  I admire my many friends...

When I started practicing law over 26 years ago, I was a purely Business Law litigator.  About three years into my career I became tired of litigating on poorly drafted materials, so I began adding "the boring desk work" to my area of practice and have not looked back...

No, we don’t mean the 6 ft 9-inch, awkward, gloomy butler from the Addams Family. We are talking about being left in a financial bind when your commercial tenant, or someone you do business with, decides they no longer intend to keep their part of your business...