Articles

Following are our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario released this past week.

The OBA YLD Executive calls upon you to inspire a passion for law in local students by volunteering in the OBA Law Day program.

Highlights from the November 20, 2018 Brown Bag Lunch including a discussion of the impact of Re Milne and Re Panda, the obligation to swear affidavits of execution, digital asset clauses in Wills and the formalities of signing Powers of Attorney where a grantor is mentally, but not physically capable.

This write-up of the recent program jointly organized by the OBA Health Law Section and Trusts and Estates Section gives an overview of the content of the program, details about the speakers and provides the key takeaways.

A family lawyer's liability can often be triggered by mishandled financial issues. This article points to six common mistakes that are made by lawyers when preparing client Financial Statements , and how to avoid them. Just as importantly, these six pointers can be used to scrutinize Financial Statements that are received from the opposing party to aid in defeating claims made against one's own client as well.

In 2015 CBIA/Lawyers Financial, a not-for-profit association governed by and for lawyers, set up a Task Force to develop a predictable, sustainable and cost-efficient pension plan for law firms. That Task Force recommended a plan that will provide lifetime retirement income that will be 30% to 50% greater than the income that can be provided under the typical defined contribution or group RRSP arrangement. The proposed plan is expected to be launched in 2020.

This fascinating article focuses on the internet as a resource for lawyers when seeking evidence to use in a case. Steve Benmor outlines both how the internet and all of the information therein can be used against a litigant and he provides a cautionary tale for litigants who may wish to consider what they post on-line about themselves and others. He also provides a useful list of cases that held that social networking websites are a legitimate source of evidence for the Court.

An invitation to attend an OBA program on civility on December 4, 2018.

On November 15, 2018, the Ontario Legislative Assembly introduced Bill 57, the Restoring Trust, Transparency and Accountability Act, 2018. If passed, this omnibus bill would amend the Construction Act, along with a number of other acts.