Articles 2020

In its recent decision, Skymark Finance Corporation v Ontario, 2023 ONCA 234 , the Ontario Court of Appeal took the opportunity to comment on the importance of immediate disclosure of settlement minutes to other parties in an action and to clarify the meaning of the phrase “to change the entirety of the litigation landscape."

On March 3 and 4, 2023, a massive endeavor was undertaken to run the first exclusive Tort Appellate Moot of its kind in the province of Ontario.

In Martin v AGO et al. , the Ontario Superior Court reiterated that the standard of care required of an occupier under Section 3(1) of the Occupiers’ Liability Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.2 (the “Act”) is one of reasonableness and not perfection. Although the standard of care is fact-specific, occupiers are not responsible for eliminating every conceivable form of danger on the premises.

In Thorman v. McGraw, the Ontario Court of Appeal clarified section 137.1(4)(b) of the Courts of Justice Act and further narrowed the class of public expression deemed worthy of protection under Ontario’s anti-SLAPP legislation.

The Ontario Court of Appeal clarified that although ameliorative efforts may toll a limitation period, the “modified objective test” under section 5(1)(b) of the Limitations Act, 2002 (the “Limitations Act”) continues to apply.

In recent years, single-photon emission computerized tomography scans (otherwise known as “SPECT” scans) have been the subject of debate in Ontario’s court rooms when evaluating brain injury claims. Whether the conclusions resulting from such scans can be admitted into evidence and for what purpose are increasingly becoming important questions in personal injury law.

The Ontario Court of Appeal in Intact Insurance Company v Zurich Insurance Company Ltd. considered whether Intact Insurance could recoup money it paid beyond its policy limits from parties other than its own insured, by direct action, for the clean up of a chemical spill.

In November of the past year, the Ontario Court of Appeal (the court of appeal) released a trio of decisions that marked an important development in Ontario privacy law.

The Ontario civil justice system faces an unprecedented crisis. Our constitution mandates that criminal cases must be addressed within a particular timeframe. Family cases, which often feature child access and other time-sensitive issues, tend to have the next level of priority. This leaves civil lawsuits, including many personal injury lawsuits, to linger for years without resolution.

The detrimental consequences that result from failing to immediately disclose settlement agreements to non-settling parties.