Our Take On Things
Termination Pay in the Contract for Employment
In Ontario, and in most Canadian jurisdictions, the law allows an employer to end a contract of employment, and to thereby terminate an employee, at any time. If the termination is for cause, then you had better be ready to prove it. If the termination is without...
Plain English for All
Have you ever received a document from a lawyer and not been able to make sense of it - if you are our client, the answer is likely no. If the answer is yes, please call me directly. When I was in law school 20 years ago there was a new movement called " Plain...
The Importance of Knowing your Customer
Many clients come to our firm seeking help to get paid on outstanding invoices and contracts. A common question for new clients to ask is: do I have to pay if the defendant turns out not to have assets and our answer is yes – we charge our rates as stated to you up...
Dipping Your Pen in Company Ink
Last week’s televised revelation by David Letterman regarding his affairs with former staffers has brought considerable attention to the issue of workplace romance - and all of the problems that come along with it. But from a legal perspective, how should you, the...
H1N1 – The Legal Side of this Flu
Word out of the newspapers this morning is that H1N1 is now in the Greater Toronto, Hamilton & London areas of Ontario. While you likely have a sense of what this means for you in your personal life (I suggest buying stock in antibacterial gel companies) you may...
The Small Claims Court Limit is Changing
In only a few short months, your options when litigating a claim are going to dramatically change. On January 1, 2010, the limit for claims that can be brought in the Small Claims Courts in Ontario will increase to $25,000.00. That is a huge increase from the current...
Papering the Deal
Many of our clients are involved either in lending transactions or are providing significant goods and services on account. As the economy fluctuates and uncertainty abounds, we are seeing an increase in the number of clients looking to “paper” these transactions and...
What to expect at a Pre-Trial or Settlement Conference
A Pre-Trial takes place in Superior Court; a Settlement Conference takes place in Small Claims Court - while the names are different the function is the same and I will refer to them both as " pre-trials " in this blog entry. A pre-trial takes place before trial -...
Think about the consequences of your actions
The shocking events of this week involving the death of a Cyclist allegedly at the hands of lawyer and former Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant are to say the least horrific. The actions that took place in the span of a few minutes have permanently altered the...
Non-Competition
Many employment contracts contain provisions restricting the ability of the employee to compete directly with an employer following the termination of the employment agreement. The law has always been at least slightly uncertain in this area as courts have often had...
Tips when being cross-examined
Being examined as a witness is generally a traumatic experience for most. Not many people wake up in the morning and decide a nice grilling by a lawyer would make a great way to spend the day. So, remember that if you are going to be examined as a witness in a court...
Codicils
I find that as my clients age, as their children grow up and leave the home, as their friends come and go and as the nature of their estate matures, they periodically want to change minor details in their Will, to reflect the new realities. In fact, I highly...
Why use our firm ?
16 1/2 years ago I started this law firm and from day one it has earned a reputation for being different from the average law firm. I'm feeling nostalgic, so I'm taking up blog time to wax poetic about our firm philosophy and why we are a great law firm to use for...
Do you need a Trade-mark Opinion?
I have trade-mark clients who range from the very small – startups who want to protect what little intellectual property they have, knowing it will one day be their greatest asset – to the very large – national and multinational corporations who protect all of their...
The stages of a Regular Procedure Law Suit
For many companies, they have limited experience in a law suit and are overwhelmed with the unknown. I am going to discuss over my next few blog entries the different types of law suits in Ontario and how their procedures differ. This week's entry is "Regular...
Incorporation – Scott promised he'd get to telling you about it ….
Incorporation In a recent blog entry I touched on the question of when to incorporate your small business. I’d like to give that question a little more consideration here. I see the incorporation question as a two-part test where the bottom line is how...
"Coles Notes" on Constructions Liens
If you are a construction contractor or your business involves the supply of services or materials for construction projects, you likely have some knowledge of lien rights. If you have a solid understanding of liening projects, you need read no further. But if you...
When to call a lawyer
Two weeks ago our Blog Entry dealt with when to use a law firm in Small Claims Court, but the question doesn’t just come up with matters that are $ 10 000.00 or less. In the ordinary course of your business you may run into a situation where you would be better off...
Estate Planning for Business Owners & Individual Pension Plans
Individual Pension Plans A few weeks ago I had an interesting lunch with Scott Plaskett, CFP of IRONSHIELD Financial Planning. We were talking about some of the different kinds of estate planning work that we do for our respective clients - I draft wills and...
Should I represent myself in Small Claims Court?
So you’re thinking about suing that customer that defaulted on its account. Or perhaps your company is being sued by a disgruntled former employee. The amount is under $10,000.00, and therefore it falls within the jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court. You wonder:...
Should you provide a Personal Guarantee ?
Here are two seemingly random legal questions that I deal with on a regular basis: Should I incorporate my business? And - Should I give a personal guarantee? I’m going to deal with these questions out of their logical order by addressing the guarantee question now...