Articles 2024

An account of my journey transitioning my practice from Ottawa to Toronto, which will hopefully provide some tips on achieving your goals and cultivating resilience.

This article examines the evolution of the opioid crisis in Canada, and the government's response.

The Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark decision in Google Inc v Equustek Solutions Inc upheld an interlocutory injunction against Google, a non-party, to globally de-index the websites of the defendant that is infringing the plaintiff's intellectual property. Although Google obtained a judgment from a US court declaring that the decision was not enforceable in the US, it was unsuccessful in having the original injunction overturned in Canada on the basis of the US judgment.

In Wallbridge v. Brunning, the Court of Appeal held that whether a law firm can be vicariously liable for defamatory statements made by a lawyer who practices “in association” with it, is an issue of general importance that should be determined at a trial and not on a motion for summary judgment. Other topics covered this week included several wills and estates matters, wrongful dismissal, family law (custody and abduction), limitation periods and some procedural matters.

Sydney Lederman plead guilty to securities fraud and was sentenced to jail on April 13, 2018, for selling a senior citizen securities in a defunct corporation for the price of $90,000 that he fraudulently claimed were worth $3 million but were, in fact, worthless.

Topics discussed at the March Brown Bag Lunch include wait times for Applications for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee, the production of medical records, estates involving digital assets, and bitcoin.

The group discussed a number of issues, including online registries for wills and powers of attorney, recent estates and trusts decisions and practices for storing revoked testamentary documents.

Prior to June 19, 2014, a testator could make unlimited political contributions by way of testamentary disposition. After that, a person may only contribute up to a certain amount. If a Will contains a political contribution in excess of the allowed amount, that excess falls to residue (if the contribution by way of a bequest) or would pass by way of intestacy (if the contribution is a share of residue).

An updated trend analysis of privacy class actions in Canada, noting an increasing incidence of privacy breaches arising from hacking, misuse of information by employees, theft or loss of personal information, and other causes.

The Ontario Bar Association’s Public Sector Lawyers Section in collaboration with the Privacy and Right to Access to Information Section hosted a panel discussion this winter on open contracting, which is a part of the open government initiative to increase transparency and accountability in the area of government contracting and procurement.