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Blog
Is generative AI a threat to the integrity of the justice system? (Shahid v. Essam)
Monday, July 7, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationLegal Research , Artificial Intelligence, Fake Cases
The explosion of the use of generative artificial intelligence may be a serious threat to the integrity of the administration of justice and the legal profession...
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No reasons required for using lawyer review clause to terminate transaction (Yui v. Yan)
Friday, July 4, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationTerminate , Clause, Transactions
In cooling real estate markets, it may be increasingly common for buyers to include various conditions in an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) allowing them to take the time to consider and back out of a proposed transaction...
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Class action lawsuit against gun manufacturer gets certified (Price v. Smith & Wesson Corp.)
Monday, June 30, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationClass Action, Certification, Gun manufacturer liability
The use of handguns can result in a person being seriously injured or killed...
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Claims struck for litigants’ failure to pay costs (Dunning v. Colliers Macaulay Nicolls; Condoman Developments v. Cannect International Mortgage)
Friday, June 27, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationClaim, Failure to Pay
Perhaps one of the more frustrating aspects of litigation is the inability to collect outstanding funds owing by an adverse party...
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Costs to be awarded in immigration proceeding because of use of fake cases (Hussein v. The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship)
Tuesday, June 24, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationLegal Research , Artificial Intelligence, Fake Cases, Costs
In the past two months, we have written a few blogs dealing with the use of fake cases by lawyers....
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Lawyer did not breach standard of care by following instructions of client’s agent (Shortreed Joint Venture Ltd. v Guvi)
Monday, June 23, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationStandard of Care, Breach
During the course of a retainer, lawyers may communicate with an agent acting on behalf of their client for the purposes of receiving and acting upon instructions...
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Neighbours in right-of-way dispute are authors of their own misfortune (Bennett v. Chadwick)
Friday, June 20, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Right-of-way Access, Cressview Lakes, Ontario
The location of a right-of-way over a neighbour’s land can be the subject of significant disagreement if it not clearly outlined in a written agreement or...
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Director personally liable for corporation’s operating line but not Visa account (RBC v. 1108135 Ontario Inc.)
Friday, June 13, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationLiability, Operating Line
In many cases where a small corporation borrows money, the lender will seek a personal commitment from the corporation’s owner to repay the debt, whether by way of a guarantee contained in the loan agreement or otherwise...
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Failure to adduce expert evidence in professional negligence claim fatal to plaintiff (Korlyakov v. Riesz)
Tuesday, June 10, 2025Eli Bordman, Isabel YooLitigationStandard of Care, Negligence, Real Estate
A key element in a negligence action is the definition of the standard of care...
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Developer hit with $25,000 damages award on anti-SLAPP motion (Sheridan Retail Inc. v. Roy)
Monday, June 9, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, Anti-SLAPP Motion, Granted
The anti-SLAPP provisions of the Courts of Justice Act (“CJA”) are powerful...
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There is no right to party (Waterloo (City) v. Persons Unknown)
Tuesday, June 3, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationMunicipal Law, By-Laws, Injunction
Social media, among other things, allows people to organize “pop up” events that can result in the gathering of large crowds...
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Geographical Deviation Does Not Defeat the One Year Time Bar in the Hague-Visby Rules
Monday, June 2, 2025Rui FernandesLitigationTransportation & Logistics, Hague-Visby
In ETG Commodities Inc. v. Hapag-Lloyd (Canada) Inc., 2025 FC 474, the Federal Court of Canada had to consider two issues...
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Freight Brokers Take Note: Pending Amendments to the Freight Broker Regulations in the United States
Monday, June 2, 2025M. Gordon HearnLitigationTransportation & Logistics, Freight
Canadian freight brokers who arrange the carriage of goods over United States routes have long been advised to comply with American laws...
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Federal Court of Appeal Finds Facebook (Meta) in Breach of PIPEDA Introduction
Monday, June 2, 2025Jamal RehmanLitigationTransportation & Logistics, Facebook
The Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) released a landmark ruling on September 9, 2024 in its decision of Privacy Commissioner of Canada v. Facebook, Inc., 2024 FCA 140...
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The Trump Administration and FMSCA Increase Enforcement of English Proficiency Requirements for Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
Monday, June 2, 2025Tyler O’HenlyLitigationTransportation & Logistics, Motor vehicles, Trump
On April 28, 2025, U.S. President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “Enforcing Commonsense Rules of the Road for America’s Truck Drivers”...
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Truck Trailer Liability: A Cautionary Tale – Nuclear and Thermonuclear Verdicts
Monday, June 2, 2025Rui FernandesLitigationTransportation & Logistics, Trucking, Nuclear Verdict
Canadian trucking companies operating in the United States should take note of the most recent U.S. court decision awarding $462 million to the families of two men for their deaths when they crashed into the back of a trailer...
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Defendants liable for costs of $579,000 in $58,000 claim (Gesualdi v. Conti)
Friday, May 30, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationLiability, Claim, Costs
Costs in Ontario court proceedings are generally awarded based on principles of success, proportionality, and the reasonable expectations of the parties...
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Buyer entitled to recover deposit after seller misrepresented legality of addition (Sewell v. Abadian)
Thursday, May 29, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationBuyer, Misrepresentation, Addition
In disputes where a buyer alleges that a seller made misrepresentations about the property being purchased, courts will generally focus on whether the representations were contained in the contract for the transaction or were otherwise reasonably relied upon by the buyer...
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Multi-Residential Lending: Navigating Tenant Protection Laws and Recent Case Developments
Wednesday, May 28, 2025Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Corporate Law, Real EstateCommercial Real Estate, Lending, Multi-Residential Lending, Residential Tenancies Act
Lending on multi-residential properties in Ontario presents unique challenges that go beyond the physical asset. A critical factor for...
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Providing Enforceability Opinions
Tuesday, May 27, 2025Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Corporate LawReal Estate, Transactions, Insurance
In Ontario, the question of whether in-house counsel can provide enforceability opinions in the context of loan and purchase transactions is...
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Lawyer escapes contempt consequences after using AI-generated case law (Ko v. Li)
Friday, May 23, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationAI, Fake Case
In a follow up to the decision we discussed in Factum containing fake case law likely generated by AI submitted in Ontario litigation (Ko v. Li), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declined to order any sanctions against a lawyer who had submitted fake case law to the court that had been generated by AI on the basis that she had already gained notoriety from the widespread publication of reports concerning the show cause order in both the legal and the general press: Ko v. Li, 2025 ONSC 2965 (CanLII)...
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Developer can’t charge buyer for adjustments not included in Agreement of Purchase and Sale (Bellisario v. 2200 Bromsgrove Development Inc.)
Thursday, May 15, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationDevelopment, Buyer, Agreement of Purchase and Sale
Over the past few years, there have been several media reports of developers in Ontario attempting to levy charges against buyers for various matters that were not included in the original purchase price....
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Use of fake cases by a lawyer qualifies quite clearly as professional misconduct (R. (Ayinde) v. The London Borough of Haringey)
Friday, May 9, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationBarristers and Solicitors , Legal Research , Artificial Intelligence, Fake Cases
We have written several blogs about the use of fakes cases by lawyers to support arguments made in court...
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Factum containing fake case law likely generated by AI submitted in Ontario litigation (Ko v. Li)
Thursday, May 8, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationAI, Fake Case
ChatGPT and other generative AI (artificial intelligence) platforms have the potential to provide litigants with an efficient tool to research and understand the legal concepts and governing authorities that are applicable to their disputes. AI may provide valuable assistance in this regard...
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Court of Appeal upholds decision to dismiss defamation action of dog-sled business (Windrift Adventures Inc. v. CTV-Bell Media Inc.)
Monday, May 5, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, SLAPP, Action Dismissed
One of the purposes of section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act (“CJA”) is to discourage the use of litigation as a means of unduly limiting expression on a matters of public interest...
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Town’s short-term rental by-law enforceable against tenant (Munir v. Garg)
Friday, May 2, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationMunicipal Law, By-Laws, Short Term Rentals
Platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO allow property owners to rent their property to others on both a long-term and short-term basis...
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Developer restrained from interfering with use of right-of-way during condominium construction (Figaro Dominion v. The Incumbent)
Friday, May 2, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationCondominium, Construction , Development, Real Estate
Neighbouring property owners who have a shared laneway or other land that is subject to a right-of-way are generally not permitted to interfere with each other’s established use of the right-of-way at issue...
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Toronto cyclists gain a reprieve: government enjoined from removing bike lanes (Cycle Toronto v. Ontario (Attorney General))
Friday, April 25, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationConstitutional Law , Charter, Interlocutory Injunction, Section 7, Interlocutory injunction granted
In Canadian law, government enactments that potentially infringe the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ...
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Buyer cannot force seller to remove notice registered on title by third party (Brighton Breeze Ltd. v. Noel Property Management Ltd.)
Friday, April 25, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationAgreement of Purchase and Sale, Real Estate, Ontario, Land Title Act
An agreement of purchase and sale (APS) for a real estate transaction may contain a term allowing a buyer to demand that a seller take steps...
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Title Insurance vs Title Opinion
Thursday, April 24, 2025Zev ZlotnickBusiness Law, Corporate Law, Real EstateCommercial Mortgage, Mortgage, Title Insurance
Commercial mortgage lenders often prefer a lender's title insurance policy over a solicitor's title opinion for several key reasons...
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