Our Take On Things

The Globe & Mail reports today that: "Laurel Broten, Ontario’s minister responsible for women’s issues, said Monday her government is working with the Ontario Securities Commission to find ways to compel companies to hire more women in senior positions." As a female...

Our firm, though located in Toronto, ON, starts most of its law suits in the Town of Milton, located approximately 30 minutes west of Toronto. Today, as I sat in Toronto’s Motion Scheduling Court for almost 3 hours, to stand up and book a date (lawyers are required to...

The Niqab ruling is back in the news again – after a Supreme Court of Canada decision that “determined” the issue had to be addressed on a case by case, the Judge decided the defendants’ lawyer and Court room staff have the right to see the face of the accuser during...

Our firm is made up of more than three lawyers and a talented paralegal (the lawyers are talented too). We have a wonderful group of people who work behind the scenes to ensure we get everything done in a timely, spell corrected fashion. This is the official week that...

On April 1, 1993 I started the firm, of course, back then it was Inga B. Andriessen, Barrister & Solicitors and it was just me. The firm has grown over the past years, both in name and in staff. We now have three lawyers, a law clerk, a paralegal and wonderful support...

The Toronto Star reported recently on the outcome of an Edmonton couple’s lawsuit regarding the sale of their cottage. The couple had bought the cottage in 2001 for $59,000.00. They retained a real estate agent in 2006, who suggested a value and it was listed. The...

Recently I’ve had to deal with some questions from clients about the value and enforceability of documents prepared in anticipation of doing a deal. In one case, the binding nature of a letter of intent was in question, and in another, some clients wanted to know what...

Over the past 20 years (technically it will only be 20 years on April 1) I've had many issues that seem to come up over and over in talking to new clients. Lately, the latest issue to come up again (and again) is getting a signature on an agreement. The facts are...

It's interesting to see the main stream media pick up on some of the more technical aspects of Civil Law Suits these days. This morning, the GTA papers were commenting on the recent Ontario Superior Court decision finding William Assaf to be a "vexatious litigant" as...

When I went to law school there was a lot of emphasis on the emerging laws related to tech businesses. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out which issues applied, depending on whether the business was online or “bricks and mortar”. A decade and a half later,...

A recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal drives home once again the title of this blog: put intentions in writing. The case of Mountain v. Mountain Estate 2012 ONCA 806 is the sad story of what happens when people rely on an oral contract to handle complex...

This weekend the Liberal Party of Ontario elected the first woman who will Premier of Ontario. This woman also happens to be openly Gay. As I read the news headlines I couldn't help but think, do either matter? It is 2013: when do we stop labelling people by their...

I heard an interesting report on the news yesterday and followed it up by reading an article in the Globe & Mail today about the cost to Ontario Small Business due to red tape. As you're reading this Blog Entry, scroll down to the one Scott wrote last week - notice...

The news is buzzing this morning with reports that Lance Armstrong has admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. I find it unsurprising, if a little disappointing. Lance is a great athlete, but it’s important to play by the rules of whatever game you find...