Our Take On Things
Blogging into the New Year
The Mayans were wrong, so we can all continue the tradition of reflecting on the year that was and resolving ways to improve 2013. There were some interesting Supreme Court decisions that were released this year and make are interesting to reflect on, though probably...
Scrooged
Well, this has been a fantastic week hasn't it? (sarcasm alert, in case it was missed) Shootings, strikes, threats of more strikes, Human Rights Complaints about Merry Christmas Signs & Albino Rhino Beer. Kind of sucks the fun out of the holidays, doesn't it? Of...
Social Media and Death
Continuing on my unintended multi-part series on social media and the law…this week we talk about what happens with your social media when you die. There are very few directives that you can make in Ontario which will have any legal effect after you die. Organ...
The Legal Side of the Headlines
Two issues have been dominating the Greater Toronto Area headlines the past few weeks: The Teacher’s Unions work to rule action and Rob Ford’s Conflict of Interest Case. As I write this blog, the Rob Ford conflict matter is headed for an argument on a Stay, pending...
Social Media in the Workplace – a Balancing Act
As practicing lawyers and business people, we’re not supposed to weigh in on contentious issues; so this week I’m not going to talk about the Middle East, Mayor Ford, plastic shopping bag bans, the Argos or the Nicki Minaj and Steven Tyler twitter feud. Except that I...
Information Security
While there are undoubtedly any number of juicy moral indiscretions to be observed in the Petraeus scandal that has been unfolding over the past few weeks, for me, the informational security issues are the most salacious. It hasn’t been explicitly detailed, but it...
Law Libraries
I received an email this week advising that there is talk of reducing funding to Ontario’s Law Libraries which could lead to their closure. When I found myself in a Law Library this morning, preparing for Court, I wondered what impact that would have on me personally....
How Not to Treat Your Employees
Security in the workplace is important, as we expect those reading this blog will have sensitive information in their businesses that need protection. As you would protect your computers and servers with passwords, so you want to control entry to your place of...
Articling – Should it stay or should it go?
The Law Society of Upper Canada, the governing body of lawyers in Ontario, is currently grappling with the issue of Articling. Articling is a “practicum” that lawyers, who have finished law school and the bar admission course, complete with a law firm before being...
Signing Apps
With the increasing digitization of documentation and the proliferation of smartphones, we’re seeing an interesting trend in the apps marketplace – apps that allow users to digitally “sign” PDFs or other document types with their fingers. As a techie, I am impressed...
Limitation Periods – How quickly do you have to sue?
It's funny how the same topic can raise its head in different ways on the same day. Today was that day for me with respect to Limitation Periods. I know, really? Limitation Periods are not that interesting at the best of times, let alone twice in one day. The first...
City Licensing Issues
There’s an interesting news item making its way around today about a lawsuit against the City of Toronto and councilor Adam Vaughan. The suit alleges, among other things (or “inter alia”, as they taught us in law school) that the City and the councilor went overboard...
Should you become a lawyer?
In the past few months I have had the privilege of being consulted by many students considering a career as a lawyer. These students come from different places in their education, high school, undergraduate degree and even a couple studying outside of Canada. Many...
Collections Litigation
One of the areas where our firm really excels – and it’s an area that I don’t have a lot to do with, so my beaming sense of pride is socially acceptable – is in the area of collections. Whether it be in making sure you get paid for the work you do at the outset, on an...
Laws Evolve – Even When It Comes to Death
There have been several recent stories in the papers relating to legal restrictions on the right to choose the timing of one’s death or that of a family member. One story related to Nagui Morcos, a man with late stage Huntington’s. He chose to end his life rather than...
Keeping your most important business asset safe
I am trying to think of an exception to the "Rule" I'm about to make, but am unable to come up with one - if you can think of one, please email me and let me know. The "Rule" is - your employees are the most important asset of your business. You need your employees to...
When a Court Decision Spawns Law Suits
Today I was reading the most recent Ontario Reports – the weekly digest every Ontario lawyer receives that includes some recent decisions of the Courts. I read with interest the summary of a case involving a lawsuit by a client against an Insurance Company and an...
Logos
There’s an interesting article in Huh Magazine about the costs of a few widely-known logos. Seeing the low price paid for some of the more iconic ones is a good reminder of how much value can be put into branding at the early stages of a business’ development by being...
Out of Office
During the summer months, with people on vacation or otherwise disinclined to come into the office, we face a variety of questions in the area of employment law. One issue that keeps coming up is that of smartphone use. We’ve dealt with privacy and security issues as...
Trustees
Recently we’ve had a lot of questions about trustees – both in the context of the estate (formerly called the executor/executrix) and in inter vivos trust situations. Generally speaking, the trustee is the person tasked with administering the trust according to the...
Moving
It’s summertime and a lot of businesses (particularly smaller ones) take this time of year to slow down a little; senior staff like to take some well-deserved time off, people are generally harder to get ahold of, and this is the time that a lot of reorganization work...