Our Take On Things

A Business that comes and sees us to get organized properly spends far less in legal fees than the Business that comes to see us when they are sued or the Respondent to a Tribunal Complaint. In an effort to save your Business money, here are some issues to tackle now,...

It's that time of year again: we're looking forward, not back. As a business owner in Ontario, your 2015 is about to start off with a bang.  Here are some of the highlights of the items you must comply with: 1.   January 1, 2015 all Ontario Businesses must have an...

On the twelfth day of Christmas (or the Holiday Season if Christmas is not your thing, we’re not looking to offend here, just have a little fun) my Business Law Firm gave to me: Twelve monthly Minutes, Eleven Resolutions, Ten Trademark Applications, Nine...

The Interview movie will no longer open December 25, 2014.  In fact, it might not open at all.  Did the terrorists win? I hope not. As a Business Lawyer I see this through the eyes of Sony and all other businesses out there, large and small. I understand that Sony was...

As a Business Law Firm that does a lot of collection litigation, we start our claims in Milton, Ontario.  There are many reasons for doing this: the Court staff are friendly, the time to trial is the quickest in the GTA and the Judges are fair minded when hearing all...

All Ontario Businesses, regardless of size, must currently have in place a Customer Service Standard and Workplace Emergency Response Information document. Companies with 20 or more employees must file evidence of their compliance on or before January 1, 2015.  Do not...

As a business law firm, we have a good amount of experience in the various rules and regulations Ontario cities require that businesses comply with in order to carry on business in those cities. The worst city for red tape, delay and operating as if it is still in the...

This past week the President of the BC Law Society created a big stir when people reported comments she made to a Cloud Computing Seminar. Apparently she said that BC Lawyers could only use cloud computing if the cloud was located in BC. The President has since backed...

Last week Thursday the Canadian Supreme Court released its decision on a case called Bhasin v. Hrynew.   This decision is an important decision in Canadian contract law: if your business uses contracts, this applies to you. The Court found that there is a new duty of...

We do not need a government taskforce to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace. We have excellent legislation that protects people from harassment: the Human Rights Code and the Occupational Health and Safety Act spring to mind. Employees have no difficulties...

As a lawyer who represents Employers, the discussions this week about sexual harassment in the workplace have been frustrating to listen to.  The reason is that I have not heard anyone discuss the difficult legal position Employers find themselves in when one employee...

Just when Canadian businesses thought governments might be done with legislating them to oblivion, word comes of even more oversight that may be coming soon to your business:...

Many accounting packages allow businesses to input a rate of interest that is put on every invoice sent out.  Often the rate is expressed as a monthly amount, for e.g. 2% per month. Unless the interest is expressed as an annual amount, for e.g. 24% per year,  this is...

The Greater Toronto Area, within the past year or so, has been “blessed” with a new a.m. radio station that plays all comedy all the time. As a result, my memories of Jeff Foxworthy and his comedy routine have been re-kindled and in a weird way, inspired this Blog....

Business owners who pay legal fees to obtain a Judgment are often worried that they will be defeated by debtors who will somehow manage to avoid paying the Judgment.   This type of concern is definitely something that needs to be factored in, when evaluating: do we...

The word trademark sounds important to many. It sounds big.  It sounds expensive.  As a result, many small businesses believe that registering a trademark for their name and/or log is not important. While cost is always a consideration in any business decision,...

If you are a commercial landlord, then you may have some knowledge of executing a distraint to collect rent owed to you. If you are owed rent monies, then you have the right (unless it’s been removed in the lease) to take the chattels of your tenant and sell them,...

As a Business Law Firm, a growing part of our practice is advising and representing employers in Applications before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO). If your business has not been hit with an Application, you may feel this Blog is irrelevant to you: think...

On October 29, 2014, Ontario Employers are required to provide three new types of leave to employees who qualify for those leaves. The leaves are: 1. Crime-Related Death or Disappearance Leave; 2. Critically Ill Child Care Leave; and, 3. Family Caregiver Leave. 1....

So, the public might imagine that the Law Society of Upper Canada's release of new Rules of Conduct for lawyers next month is directly tied to the lawyer who was just caught, allegedly improperly disbursing trust money. The public would be wrong. Yesterday the Law...

Here’s some interesting information on why having a lawyer advocate on your behalf is a good idea. A recent study came out in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies titled “Lawyer and Nonlawyer Susceptibility to Framing Effects in Out-of –Court Civil Litigation...