Articles 2020

There are several truisms that accompany the practice of law. One of these is the fact that your family and friends will invariably and periodically ask for your assistance in addressing legal issues. As a trusted companion with the benefit of a legal education, a lawyer may even find that they have been appointed as an estate trustee under the Will of a friend or family member, occasionally without prior consultation.

A case currently before the Ontario courts highlights the importance of fraud and cybercrime awareness for both seasoned solicitors and newly-called lawyers. In Dentons Canada LLP v Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company 2018 ONSC 7311, an associate from the applicant law firm attempted to transfer over $2.5 million to clear a mortgage on his client’s property. Instead, he was duped into transferring most of the funds to a fraudster.

Depending on your personality, networking events can inspire a wide range of emotions. For better or for worse, they are a necessary part of the profession to help build your book of business and create connections that might be helpful for your career. This article contains some tips and tricks complied over the years to help you maximize your experience at networking events and hopefully make it more enjoyable.

Every day, lawyers are exposed to different dimensions of conflict, including their client’s trauma or intense emotional states. Stress can lead to compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout. Notice the signs and process your stress. Read on for more information and strategies for predicting and preventing the three burdens of the helping profession.

Increased transparency in international commercial arbitration may improve quality by allowing arbitral decisions to undergo public scrutiny and contribute to jurisprudence. More transparency comes at the cost of the privacy and confidentiality of arbitral stakeholders. Read on for an analysis of these competing objectives in international commercial arbitration.

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

You and your partner are moving in together, or you have just set a wedding date. These are both happy events and are likely filling you with a lot of excitement, planning, and optimism. So why spoil the moment with talk of a prenuptial agreement? Prenups, or “domestic contracts” as they are called in Canada, are a difficult topic to bring up with your partner, especially if you are not sure if they will be on board with the idea.

Examinations for discovery are a true on-the-job skill. Law school does not teach you how to conduct one, and watching experts examine during your articles will only take you so far when you find yourself on your own, face to face with an evasive witness and a combative opposing counsel. This article is by no means an exhaustive manual on examinations for discovery, but only a series of tips from the perspective of a junior (but not so junior) lawyer. 

Canadians now live in a brave new world of legalized possession and consumption of cannabis. Individuals and businesses are going to their lawyers for advice on what is and is not permitted under the new rules, and lawyers have been left to scramble through mountains of dense legislation and a provincial patchwork to find answers for their clients. If you are one of those lawyers looking for answers, or just trying to stay up to date on the general changes, then this article is for you.

On January 1, 2017, a new administrative dismissal regime came to Ontario. Actions in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice are now administratively dismissed pursuant to Rule 48.14 if the actions have not been set down for trial (or terminated by any means) by the 5th anniversary of the commencement of the action. Read on for a review of Rule 48.14 and its Small Claims Court counterpart, Rule 11.1.01.