Articles 2024

"Another pet peeve of mine, which comes up a lot in legal practice is the description of Black orators as 'surprisingly well-spoken' or 'articulate', I feel like I’ve been haunted by the word articulate my whole life. Every person who is saying these compliments is genuinely trying to be warm, but they’re part of a larger tapestry of behaviour over a lifetime."

"I still remember a call I had with a potential new client during my earlier years as an employment lawyer. She called me to discuss her workplace situation and wanted to book a consultation with me. I listened to her, expressed that I was sorry to hear about her situation, and explained our process. She advised me that she was given the names of two individuals, and that she had reached out to the other person first as she thought he would be 'tougher' as a white, male lawyer."

"Also, a lot of internationally trained lawyers get 'compliments' like, 'You’re from country X? Your English is great.' And they’re from countries whose entire legal system and education system is in English. It’s these little reminders that you don’t belong and that you’ll never belong because you’re not one of us."

Can the construction lien and adjudication regimes co-exist in Ontario and work seamlessly, in harmony together? This article explores certain unintended pitfalls, shortcomings, and incongruencies associated with combining the regimes, as illustrated in the wording of the statute itself as well as in recent case law on adjudication.

Three years into the Interim Adjudication process under Part II.1 of the Construction Act, it is apparent that what was promised as a quick and dirty approach to dispute resolution is turning into a fly-by-night process that creates more problems than solutions. In this article, the author shares his thoughts on some of these problems.