Our Take On Things

It's one of those weeks again for me, a hurry up and wait week. I have a matter on a Court list in Hamilton. The matter could be called at any time this week, or it could not be called at all, in which case it gets put on a list for another week. Maybe with priority...

If you own a company with another shareholder who you are not married to, you need a Shareholder's Agreement. Why? That is easy: it lets you control your destiny, rather than someone else. Without a Shareholder's Agreement you could find your shareholder's ex-spouse...

A "hot topic" of conversation in the GTA Litigation community is the delay in the Toronto Court System. That delay means over 7 months to book a procedural motion before a Master and that of course can lead to delays in law suits for years. Yesterday I was in Motions...

This morning the lawyers in our firm attended a great continuing legal education seminar about Civil Litigation in the Milton Court House. This was fantastic as it provided real information about our area of practice. Unfortunately, meaningful seminars are difficult...

I enjoy reading many Newspapers, each coming at the news from a different view point. Some have a clear agenda, some hide it better than others. This morning's Toronto Star contains an article that reads a little bit like a Law Student's first attempt at a factum...

One of the things I love about owning our firm is that I can make the rules. One of the rules I have always followed is that we must have fun, at least once a year. (I'm kidding about the frequency) To that end, every year we have a Summer Fun Day. We choose an...

The big topic of conversation this morning in the GTA news was that three Firepersons (you'll understand why I'm being extra gender neutral shortly) were terminated from their employment by the City of Toronto for tweets sent from their private Twitter accounts. These...

Decisions made in anger are rarely the correct decision, yet we often find ourselves talking to clients who have decided to start a law suit in a fit of anger. While ultimately the law suit may have merit, we always talk the client through the potential pitfalls of...

Yes, I know technically summer does not end until September 21. However, I'm just back from two weeks vacation in Nova Scotia & New Brunswick, so I'm feeling that my summer is at an end and my focus is shifting to the upcoming Fall. Many of our clients shift their...

Poor Lance Armstrong. How a decade can change everything. At the height of his fame, he was accused by Britain’s The Sunday Times of taking performance-enhancing drugs. The usual libel lawsuit was commenced by Armstrong and in 2006 the paper paid him about a half...

I listen to talk radio on my morning drive in to work. The format is such that often an easy topic is discussed that will result in heated call-ins, with the predictable extremes of opinion being expressed. That may be the reason why I am straying as of late to the AM...

August - what a great month. The weather is warm, the nights come a bit earlier than in July, so campfires start sooner and of course all the back to school ads rev up. From a business perspective, August is a good month to take a look at the upcoming last quarter of...

Recently I've read about "unbundling" legal services to allow clients to do certain tasks on their own and like everyone who listens to the radio, I've also heard the ads for companies that provide legal document templates for people and quickly point out they don't...

During the past month the issue of unpaid internships has been in the media - several people who agreed to be unpaid interns decided that they changed their minds and complained about the status, resulting in some payments being made to them. As "anti-unpaid intern"...

Where are you reading this Blog? Are you reading it on a Smart Phone or Tablet while you’re away from your real office, or are you slaving away at your desk and using your work PC? Maybe it’s just because it’s July, but the news lately is fully of studies proclaiming...

So, in case you have not heard, Toronto got a lot of water on Monday, July 8, 2013. The West End of Toronto was hardest hit and our firm is located in that end. Thanks to the heroics of Toronto Hydro, our firm was up and running very soon after the flood, however, the...

I came across a Blog recently that talked about an American law regarding Poisoned Workplaces and how "not everything your boss asks you to do is poisonous." The article suggested employees should contact their boss before a lawyer when alleging a poisoned work...

Finally, the sun appeared in the GTA, as did the humidity and the whining of high school students writing exams: summer is here. As soon as the temperature rises, many business get that "summer feel" about them, but that doesn't mean they should take a vacation from...

If you've been listening to Talk Radio in the GTA this year, then you've heard the ads by lawyers encouraging employees to see them if they have an issue with their employer. These ads have contributed to a large bump in litigation against Employers. So, what can you...

Last week there was an announcement from the Ontario Government: the number of Teacher’s College openings will be cut in half. The announcement was due to a “large glut” of teachers on the market. Many people who are not teachers were shocked to read about the “glut”....