Blog
Blog
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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Departing employees ordered to return and destroy confidential information (Mondee, Inc. v. Voyzant Inc.)
Monday, April 21, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationEmployee, Employer, Employment Agreements, Damages
For a business, the loss of key employees to a competitor can be devastating. While departing employees may not take their employer’s confidential...
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No basis to pierce corporate veil in aborted real estate transaction (Dawood v. Popes Property Holdings Inc.)
Thursday, April 10, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Property, Transactions
In some real estate transactions, individuals may negotiate an agreement in which they do not wish to incur personal liability and may use a shell or holding company for that purpose...
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Dispute over exchange of keys leads to five years of litigation over sale of church property (Gyimah v. The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of The Diocese of Hearst in Ontario)
Tuesday, April 8, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationProperty, Dispute
Courts generally expect parties to a real estate transaction to work together to ensure that it is completed as scheduled...
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Toronto cyclists refused injunction to prevent government’s removal of traffic congesting bike lanes (Cycle Toronto v. Ontario (Attorney General))
Friday, April 4, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationConstitutional Law , Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Injunction, Denied
In an earlier blog I wrote about the decision...
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Cottage islanders’ association denied proprietary estoppel claim for control over municipal docks (Grape Island Property Owners Association Inc. v. Corporation of the City of Orillia)
Friday, April 4, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationProprietary, Estoppel, Cottage
The dispute in Grape Island Property Owners Association Inc. v. Corporation of the City of Orillia, 2025 ONSC 1480 involved a property owners association of cottagers and full-time residents of an island on Lake Simcoe, Ontario against the City of Orilla...
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Plaintiff’s defamation claim against siblings survives Anti-SLAPP motion (The Estate of Colombe Quesnel v. G. Quesnel)
Thursday, April 3, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationDefamation, Claim, Anti-SLAPP Motion
Family feuds can be bitter and nasty...
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Protecting safe places to consume drugs outweighs protecting disorder around supervised consumption sites (The Neighbourhood Group v. HMKT)
Wednesday, April 2, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationConstitutional Law , Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Injunction
In Ontario, government action taken by Premier Ford has caused much litigation because political opponents to the Premier have been unable to crack his personal popularity and the popularity of his government’s views on issues such as the redevelopment of Ontario Place or the removal of bike lanes on major roadways, particularly in Toronto...
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Do requisitions concerning gas leases go to root of title? (Van Hove v. Dryuff)
Tuesday, April 1, 2025James R.G. Cook, Isabel YooLitigationReal Estate, Agreement of Purchase and Sale, Root of Title
In a real estate transaction, the agreement of purchase and sale will include a deadline by which a buyer may submit requisitions for issues that they want the seller to address prior to closing...
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Claim for ineffective assistance of counsel dismissed as a collateral attack (Mann v. Royle)
Friday, March 28, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationClaim, Dismissed
In some cases, the doctrines of collateral attack and abuse of process may be invoked to strike a claim where a plaintiff has failed to pursue remedies, such as an appeal, which were available in earlier proceedings...
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Has the Court of Appeal made it harder to succeed on a SLAPP motion in a defamation case? (Benchwood Builders Inc. v. Prescott)
Thursday, March 27, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, SLAPP, Test
For many years, I have written about defamation cases and SLAPP motions in which defendants have sought the early dismissal of defamation actions under section 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act (“CJA”) or under the equivalent British Columbia anti-SLAPP law...
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Court is not forum for resolving political grievances (Ontario Place Protectors v. Ontario)
Wednesday, March 26, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationConstitutional Law , Courts, Judicial Scrutiny , Immunity
This blog updates an earlier blog that I wrote on August 16, 2024 in connection with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in Ontario Place Protectors v. His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario, 2024 ONSC 4194 (CanLII)...
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TRREB defeats plaintiff’s motion to restore MLS access (Ojohome Canada Ltd. v. The Canadian Real Estate Association)
Monday, March 24, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationMotion, MLS, TRREB
In Ojohome Canada Ltd. v. The Canadian Real Estate Association, 2025 ONSC 1601, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a motion brought by the plaintiff to regain access to live feed data from the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) provided by Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) and the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)...
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Claim struck against individual employee of corporate defendant (Soneri Invest v. Shell Canada)
Friday, March 14, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationClaim, Rules of Civil Procedure
In some claims against corporate defendants, plaintiffs may also seek to include individual representatives or employees as defendants...
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Sellers repudiated agreement of purchase and sale by failing to address outstanding work orders (Reel em Inn and Resort v. RNR Doemel Enterprises)
Tuesday, March 11, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationSeller, Agreement of Purchase and Sale
A seller’s failure to advise a buyer that outstanding work orders against a property will be addressed before closing may entitle the buyer to terminate the transaction, as demonstrated by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in Reel em Inn and Resort v. RNR Doemel Enterprises, 2025 ONSC 805...
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Protecting the justice system from vexatious litigants (Ottawa Police Services Board v. M.(D.))
Friday, March 7, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationCivil Procedure, vexatious litigant
The justice system is an important institution in a well-functioning democracy...
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Buyer breached agreement to purchase home that was destroyed by fire (McDonald v. Lowrie)
Thursday, March 6, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationAgreement of Purchase and Sale, Breach, Property
Often there may be several weeks or months between the signing of a binding Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) and the scheduled completion date for the purchase of a property...
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Modern, flexible approach to assessment of defamation pleading applied to republication (Sawatzky v. Prince Albert Golf and Curling Club Inc.)
Wednesday, March 5, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationTorts, Defamation, Pleadings
Pleadings are important documents in a civil litigation case...
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Claim against Township for failing to monitor building permit dismissed under ultimate limitation period (Huether v. Sharpe)
Tuesday, March 4, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationReal Estate, Limitations Act, 2002
The Ontario Limitations Act, 2002 (the “Act”), provides for an “ultimate” limitation period of 15 years to commence most types of civil claims. Specifically...
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Lawyer did not breach privilege by disclosing confidential email to former clients’ trustee in bankruptcy (Milot Law v. Sittler)
Monday, March 3, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationBreach, Bankruptcy, Privacy
Solicitor-client privilege in Canada is a fundamental right and a substantive rule of law...
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Plaintiff obtains summary judgment against former lawyers (Longarini v. Llyod)
Friday, February 21, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationSummary Judgment
Motions for summary judgment are often ill-suited for disputes where there are contested issues involving credibility and material facts...
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Demand for payment undermines defendant’s position that defamation action involved a matter of public interest (Diverse Transportation v. Chen)
Thursday, February 20, 2025James R.G. Cook, Isabel YooLitigationDefamation, Matter of Public Interest, Anti-SLAPP Motion
Is a threat to “pay me or I will destroy your reputation” a statement of public interest...
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Pleadings struck in $100 million claim due to party's repeated failure to produce relevant documents (Way v. Schembri)
Wednesday, February 19, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationClaim, Appeals, Relevant Documents
In civil litigation, the parties have a fundamental obligation to produce all documents that are in their possession, control or power which are relevant to the issues in dispute...
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US lawyers again fall victim to fake case generated by AI-assisted research
Friday, February 14, 2025Stephen A. ThieleLitigationAI, Research
As a research lawyer with over 30 years experience, I often worry that advances to AI-assisted legal research tools will one day eliminate my job and that senior and junior lawyers will no longer seek my assistance with analyzing precedent case law to provide an answer on legal issues that arise in client matters...
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Discipline Decisions Leading to Health Provider De-Listings by Insurance Companies
Thursday, February 6, 2025Lad KucisHealth Law, LitigationDe-Listings , Insurance Companies, Discipline
Over the past year, I have witnessed a growing trend of insurance companies de-listing regulated health professionals (i.e. chiropractors, physiotherapists, etc)...
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Responding to Complaints Before the College of Chiropodists of Ontario (COCOO): A Defence Lawyer’s Perspective
Tuesday, February 4, 2025Lad KucisHealth Law, LitigationComplaints, Chiropodists, Ontario
As legal counsel for chiropodists, we are regularly asked questions about the complaints process before the College of Chiropodists of Ontario "COCOO"...
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Defamation claim survives dismissal under doctrine of absolute privilege (Drabinsky v. Kepinski)
Tuesday, February 4, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationDefamation, Absolute Privilege
The doctrine of absolute privilege may shield communications that are made during the course of legal proceedings from defamation claims...
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Can a real estate agent be liable for a tenant’s damages? (Carola v. VIP Reality Inc.)
Monday, February 3, 2025James R.G. CookLitigationTenant, Damages
In addition to acting on purchases and sales, real estate agents may be engaged to find tenants for their clients...
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When enough is enough: Request for liquidator to conduct claims process denied on basis of issue estoppel (Vastis v. Kommatas)
Monday, February 3, 2025Kevin W. Fisher, James Beesley, Eli Bordman, Isabel YooLitigationres judicata, issue estoppel
In contentious litigation, adverse parties often engage in multiple rounds of litigation, whether that be motions, trials or appeals...
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