Our Take On Things
Listen Up !
I was at a trade show recently, not a boring legal trade show, but the Outdoor Adventure show (hey, I have a life that extends beyond Court Rooms – honest!) and I was overwhelmed by the way many vendors were blurting out information as we walked past their booths....
Bzzz – Ow – Bzzz – Ow – Don't be a Bart Simpson
The Simpsons debuted on TV while I was in Law School. I have many memorable episodes, but the one that sticks out the most is where Bart touches the electrocuted science experience that the Lisa set up, gets buzzed, says ow, then repeats it over and over again. I...
Capping the Automobile Leasing Company's Liability
Our firm handles a lot of Vehicle Leasing litigation and documentation. Working in this area of law, we've seen a lot of changes over the years, particularly to the liability of leasing companies when one of their lessees is in an accident. In 2006 the Ontario law...
Mitigation in Wrongful Dismissal
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently released a decision in the case of Arnone v. Best Theratronics Ltd., 2015 ONCA 63 (CanLII) which overturned the Motion Judge’s finding that the employee’s earnings during the notice period need not be deducted from the award of...
Wading into the TWU debate
If the title of this Blog means nothing to you, you are likely not a lawyer and this Blog probably has little meaning to you. I'm o.k. with that. I've thought about writing a Blog about the TWU debate for a long time and until now have opted not to, believing that...
Hey Mayor John Tory, can you please fix The City's Licensing next?
Love him or hate him, Mayor John Tory is certainly cutting through a lot of the City's red tape in his first weeks in office. I have a plea on behalf of all of us who do (or try) to do business in the City: please fix the Licensing process next. Toronto's process is...
Milton needs a new courthouse now
Our firm starts most of our litigation in Milton. We do this because it is an efficient jurisdiction to litigate, the Judges are excellent and the staff is friendly. However, the 1970s building is not big enough for the population it services. This means that when it...
The Cost of Enforcing a Judgment in Ontario
An interesting Ontario Court of Appeal decision was released on December 9, 2014 that impacts the costs of anyone trying to enforce a Judgment in the Province of Ontario by selling property owned by a debtor. If there is a mortgage on a property, before the Sheriff...
Get 2015 Off to the Right Start for your Business
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,...
Resolutions your Business must stick to in 2015
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...
The Twelve Days of Business Law
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...
Commercial Terrorism – The New Frontier?
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...
On the retirement of The Honourable Mr. Justice John Murray
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...
Is your Ontario business complying with the Accessibility requirements?
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...
Toronto: it’s Uber hard to do business here
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...
Lawyers with their heads in the Cloud
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...
Honesty in Contracts: it's the Law in Canada now
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 don't need a Ghomeshi inquiry
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...
The Employer's Side in this Harassment Discussion
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...
Data Breach Disclosure Laws May Be Coming To Canada
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:...
Collecting the interest you charge on your invoice
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...