Articles 2020

This month's edition of Wellness Tips features WLF Executive Member, Forough Ghorbani's tips on accessing mental health resources for legal professionals.

Two of the key objectives of the amendments to the Divorce Act in Bill C-78, as outlined in the preamble to the Bill, are to establish a non-exhaustive list of criteria with respect to the best interests of the child and to assist the courts in addressing family violence.

In the beginning of this month, I had my first trial – a five-day, high conflict parenting trial. Prior to this, I had never sat in on or assisted with a family law trial, so it was an incredible and highly nerve-wracking experience. Now that I have had a bit of time to breathe, I offer here some of my “lessons learned” from this experience for others who will find themselves in my shoes.

As lawyers in varying industries and practice areas, writing articles could be an excellent avenue that serves multiple purposes. Writing can build your profile in the legal community, share your thoughts on certain topics or best practices, or even relay your position on recent developments on the law. In addition, writing articles could provide you with an excellent way to meet other colleagues in your city or the legal community who wish to hear more about your content.

It is often a difficult and stressful experience when your client, your employer, or an employee of your company is subject to regulatory action. Depending on the regulatory regime, the consequences of these circumstances may be significant, and may include reputational harm, the revocation of a licence, fines and even imprisonment.  It is therefore imperative that these situations be handled with care.

The abandonment of the appeal leaves the decision of the Ontario Superior Court in Soleimani v Rolland Levesque intact. That decision found that the Ministry of Environment’s involvement in investigating and remediating ground water contamination under the EPA does not establish an alternative adjudication or dispute resolution process that would toll or suspend a limitation period pursuant to s. 5(1)(a)(iv) of the Limitations Act

In this update we highlight key judicial decisions and legislative developments in 2019 affecting the landscape of franchise law in Canada.

In July 2019, two northern Canadian airlines, First Air and Canadian North, announced that their respective owners had closed the merger of their two operations. The regulatory clearance of the deal under the review provisions of the Canada Transportation Act, despite a negative competitive effects report from the Commissioner of Competition, makes for an interesting case study into how the government weighs public interest issues against competition concerns in certain instances.