Articles 2023

Since the release of the TRC report in 2015, momentum has been building toward Indigenous justice and reconciliation. But stronger and deeper commitments and actions are necessary.

The article discusses the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Flores v Glegg (2022 ONCA 825).

In Rovi Guides, Inc. v. Bell Canada, 2022 FC 1388, Justice Lafrenière adjudicated a trial involving the infringement and invalidity of four patents relating to interactive television programming guides—the kind of technological features that many of us rely on to enhance our television viewing. However, this decision may have dramatic effects on the prosecution of patents before the patent office.

In the case of Jonas v Jonas, the Ontario Court of Appeal considered the proper interpretation of a Will’s residue clause. Jennifer Corak reviews the decision, including the trial judge’s application of the “armchair rule” in light of the ambiguity of the clause in question.

The Trusts and Estates Law Section’s Public Affairs Liaisons, Krystyne Rusek and Angelique Moss, provide an informative update on current and upcoming legislative changes and public affairs issues.

The February Brown Bag Lunch meeting saw OBA members gather to discuss interesting topics such as when a joint account should be considered an estate asset, and how to deal with a client whose deceased parent was living a “double life”. Members also received an update on the OBA’s response to recent developments in the LSO’s Access to Innovation Project.

In January, members of the OBA Trusts and Estates Section met for the monthly Brown Bag Lunch. As always, BBLers had a lively discussion addressing a variety of topics and questions about members’ practices, with practitioners always willing to share their thoughts and experiences.

At the December Brown Bag Lunch meeting, OBA members gathered to discuss interesting practice questions, including participants’ views on mutual Will agreements, and the Court’s recent treatment of affidavits in support of a request to dispense with a bond.

Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario for the week of February 20 to 24, 2023.

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology recently released version 1.0 of its Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework. The goal of the framework is to provide a voluntary, rights-preserving, sector- and use-case agnostic guide for AI actors to implement in order to promote trustworthy and responsible AI systems.