Executive Summary
Stephen Thiele is the firm’s Director of Legal Research. He primarily closely works with the Dispute Resolution lawyers, providing advice, value-added analysis and opinions on a wide-range of litigation matters.
Stephen also develops strategies and legal arguments for use on motions, at trials and on appeals. He is frequently required to prepare the written arguments used by the firm’s Dispute Resolution lawyers.
However, Stephen’s work is not confined to supporting only the firm’s lawyers. He is also engaged by a few private practicing lawyers on an outsource basis to review and analyze legal issues affecting the clients of those lawyers.
Stephen is the author and co-author of many legal articles that either discuss topics related to legal research or related to current high-profile legal issues.
Expertise
- Litigation and Dispute Resolution
- Election Law
Representative Work
- Currently co-counsel in municipal conflict of interest case against former Mayor and councillor of the City of Toronto
- Co-counsel in successful defence of defamation against now former Mayor of the City of Toronto
- Co-counsel in contested election case that was eventually determined by the Supreme Court of Canada)
Articles and Presentations
Articles
- Ontario’s Second Province Wide Shutdown - January 13, 2021
- Partial shutdown of business does not preclude business interruption claim - October 2, 2020
- Ontario’s courts are gradually getting back to business - July 10, 2020
- Residential Rent During The COVID-19 Pandemic - March 30, 2020
- The Ontario Government’s Response to COVID-19: An Overview - March 29, 2020
- Alleged extension of time does not prevent discount brokerage to conduct sell-out in its discretion - March 16, 2020
- Solicitor-Client Privilege: Claim for breach denied and argument to preserve upheld - December 9, 2019
- It's Game Day!: The Summary Dismissal of a Misfeasance Claim - October 16, 2019
- Star Chamber v. Equity: Politicians Beware - August 22, 2019
- Reduction of Right-of-Way Denied - May 1, 2019
- Premier Ford Vindicated - April 17, 2019
- Dismissal of abusive proceeding upheld; Home buyer who got more land than he bargained for not entitled to damages for lost secondary transactions - April 2, 2019
- Time period expired: Claim for contribution and indemnity dismissed - January 30, 2019
- Is Partial Summary Judgment Dead - December 7, 2018
- The End of the Charter? - November 19, 2018
- The Unforgiving Forgivable Loan - September 21, 2018
- Lawyers Owe Duty to Their Own Clients, Not the Opposite Side - June 15, 2018
- In the Cold Light of an Unfavourable Result, Blaming Your Lawyer Will Not Brighten Your Prospects - March 29, 2018
- An Online Date to Forget - October 31, 2017
- Failure to Respond to Foreign Litigation Can Be Risky - October 19, 2017
- Provisions of whole contract make seller responsible for severance costs - August 4, 2017
- Plaintiff’s “Kicks at the Can” are limited - May 23, 2017
- Bank not responsible for fraudulent instructions delivered via customer’s email account - May 12, 2017
- Mortgage proceeds paid to fraudster’s lawyer, in trust, covered under title insurance policy - February 23, 2017
- Court Holds Canada A Free Trade Nation Within Its Own Borders: Provincial Tariff Ruled Unconstitutional - August 18, 2016
- Purchase of Title Insurance a Buyer’s Issue: Sellers’ Claim Against Lawyer for Failing to Advise of Insurance Purchase Dismissed - July 14, 2016
- GR Lawyers Obtain Dismissal of Municipal Conflict of Interest Case Against Ford Brothers - April 21, 2016
- Real Estate Agent Liability: Highlighting the Potential Causes of Action Against Them - February 24, 2016
- Nervous shock claim dismissed: Divisional Court agrees that juror in criminal trial fails to meet test - February 4, 2016
- Court Refuses to Give Buyer 13 Month Extension to Exercise Assignment Option: Time Period Held Unreasonable and Right Surrendered - December 24, 2015
- Unpermitted Removal of Support Walls Covered by Title Insurance Policy: Title Insurer Obligated to Pay Future Repair Costs to Remedy Dangerous Condition - December 7, 2015
- $1.4 Million in Damages Awarded Under "Spills Bill" Action: Court States That "Polluter Pays" Principle Codified - December 4, 2015
- Insider Trading: What Does it Mean for In-house Counsel? - November 12, 2015
- Conflict of Interest in the Era of Multi-national Law Firms - November 12, 2015
- The Throwback Heard Around the (Baseball) World A Legal Perspective - October 21, 2015
- Court Refuses to Enjoin Use of Controversial Ride Service Uber Drives On in Toronto - August 21, 2015
- Family Law Act Remedy Trumps Professional Liability Claim - August 18, 2015
- Need for Administrative Tribunal to Apply Gladue Principles Rejected - August 7, 2015
- Major reforms proposed to Condominium Law - June 12, 2015
- Municipal Election Victories - May 28, 2015
- Controversial Practice of Carding Hits Court - May 13, 2015
- Collection of Unpaid Legal Fees - May 13, 2015
- Record Retention eDiscovery Spoliation - April 1, 2015
- Amended Rules of Professional Conduct - October 28, 2014
- Canada's proposed Fair Elections Act bill: More can be done to restore integrity in election process - February 10, 2014
- Keeping Current - Anti-SLAPP Legislation Proposed - June 10, 2013
- The Employer - Taking With You Only What You Can Take - June 7, 2013
- Not a Technicality: Magder v. Ford - January 30, 2013
My Blog
- Divisional Court upholds Integrity Commissioner decision: Councillor’s pay suspended for 270 days - December 31, 2021
- Distribution under ambiguous disposition provision in Will made on a per stirpes basis - December 22, 2021
- Declaration of vacancy of Council member’s seat not stayed pending Councillor’s appeal - December 15, 2021
- Court sets aside non-competition injunction - December 14, 2021
- Court upholds removal of lawyers who will be witnesses - December 13, 2021
- Self-defence prevails in recreational hockey league stick-swinging incident - December 1, 2021
- City Councillor gets burned for municipal conflict of interest over a matter involving a fire - November 29, 2021
- Ford wins again! Court of Appeal for Ontario upholds dismissal of defamation action against him - November 26, 2021
- Lawyer not added as a defendant to counterclaim in real estate dispute - November 2, 2021
- Ontario Court of Appeal upholds setting aside of a notice of discontinuance - November 1, 2021
- Lawyer wins $500,000 in defamation action - October 28, 2021
- Defamer gets 18 month jail sentence for contempt of court - October 21, 2021
- Incorrect Counting of Unused Ballots Results in Judicial Recount - October 15, 2021
- Supreme Court of Canada upholds reduction in size of Toronto's City Council - October 4, 2021
- GR lawyers succeed in having action over cancelled building permit transferred to correct court - September 30, 2021
- Restrictive covenants and short-term vacation rentals - September 20, 2021
- Sports law and the Competition Act - September 13, 2021
- Court Refuses To Dismiss Claims That Did Not Engage SLAPP Provisions - September 1, 2021
- Court finds 500% “penalty” clause enforceable - August 26, 2021
- Lack of standing prevents challenge to COVID-19 restrictions - August 24, 2021
- Stay refused: Ontario court rules arbitration clause in international commercial contract inoperative - July 30, 2021
- Facility operator dodges damages award because patron waived liability - July 26, 2021
- Plaintiff Suffers Blow: Punch to Face in Amateur Ice Hockey Game Found to be Not Reasonably Foreseeable - July 22, 2021
- Wrong for City Councillor to have entered residential properties without permission - July 13, 2021
- Claim for online research costs rejected in Ontario commercial proceeding - July 5, 2021
- Student-Athletes Prevail in Antitrust Action Against the National Collegiate Athletic Association to Secure Education-Related Benefits - June 29, 2021
- Tribunal’s independent legal research not procedurally unfair - June 24, 2021
- Integrity Commissioner’s ruling against Councillor upheld, but Council cannot unreasonably restrain his ability to communicate with constituents - June 15, 2021
- Ontario third party advertising provisions held to be unconstitutional - June 10, 2021
- Litigant Misses the Cut in Lawsuit After Being Hit in the Head by a Golf Ball - June 9, 2021
- A Judge’s Duty is to Judge - June 7, 2021
- COVID-19 increases length of reasonable wrongful termination notice to 24 months - June 1, 2021
- Summary judgment denied over defamatory TV show first aired in Pakistan - May 25, 2021
- Nova Scotia court prevents anti-masking protest from happening - May 20, 2021
- $500,000 in damages awarded for comments about yellow Ferrari’s ownership - May 14, 2021
- Injunction granted to stop defamatory posts published on Instagram - April 30, 2021
- Recovering Online Legal Research Disbursements - April 21, 2021
- Gratuitous Defamatory Tweets About Plaintiff Not Protected as a Matter of Public Interest - April 5, 2021
- Federal Conservative Party Member Wins Pyrrhic Court Victory: Loses in Party Election - March 26, 2021
- Motion to enjoin hotel quarantine law denied - March 24, 2021
- A Victory for Freedom of Speech - March 15, 2021
- Correcting some misconceptions about online legal research costs - March 8, 2021
- Defaming a professional can be costly - March 3, 2021
- The judicial rant heard around the legal profession: a legal research lesson - February 27, 2021
- Reputation can be everything - February 25, 2021
- God’s law is not supraconstitutional - February 22, 2021
- You can’t play dress up with a defamation action - February 18, 2021
- Legal research in costs awards - February 16, 2021
- Criminal proceedings and the civil defamation claim: A limitation period lesson - February 5, 2021
- Disgorgement of profits could be a potential remedy in a defamation action - February 2, 2021
- Limitation period avoided: Claims of republication of libel by third party allowed to be added action because stories were on internet - February 1, 2021
- Defamation action against Ontario Premier dismissed under Courts of Justice Act - January 28, 2021
- Patrick Brown takes down insurance company - January 27, 2021
- Defamation suit surrounding BC’s foreign buyer tax is dismissed - January 25, 2021
- Plaintiffs who started debate on matters of public interest have defamation claim dismissed - January 20, 2021
- President of Queen’s Privy Council for Canada to be an “adverse witness” in potato farmer’s case - January 15, 2021
- Former Agriculture Minister Not Required to Testify - January 8, 2021
- Recent Treatment of Letters of Request from U.S. Courts by the Ontario Court of Appeal - January 4, 2021
- Housing construction project turned sour results in personal liability and dismissal of defamation claim - December 28, 2020
- Election law’s substantive approach applies to judicial recounts - December 24, 2020
- Legal research and the duty to disclose relevant law - December 21, 2020
- The frailties of online legal research: the words “and” and “or” - December 14, 2020
- Who is that guy? A lesson in the law of defamation - December 9, 2020
- Partial shutdown of business does not preclude business interruption claim - October 7, 2020
- Business Interruption Insurance in the Time of COVID-19: Some Recent Judicial Consideration - September 21, 2020
- Ontario Suspends Commercial Tenant Evictions - June 19, 2020
- A Litigation Update: The Small Claims Court and Short Motions or Applications - June 9, 2020
- Ontario re-opening for business: A gradual approach - May 7, 2020
- A CERB Application Update - April 6, 2020
- Ontario expands non-essential business closures - April 4, 2020
- Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Federal and Provincial Government Relief Measures Available to Businesses - April 2, 2020
- The other side of MeToo - February 20, 2018
- Where will marijuana laws end up? - August 15, 2017
- Is Canada Day celebration controversy worth breach of contract claim? - July 5, 2017
- Missing Comma May Prove Costly - March 15, 2017
- Collecting legal fees: The Small Claims Court is back in business - January 18, 2017
- Check Before You Rent - December 14, 2016
- What’s in a name? Everything if it is a registered Trade-mark! - December 7, 2016
- Lessons from the Dreamworld Crisis - November 2, 2016
- Civil Liability for STDs and Jurisdiction - October 5, 2016
- Pokemon “No!” - August 17, 2016
- Toronto Police Arrest Nearly 100 In Marijuana Raids - June 1, 2016
Board Memberships
- Member of The Canadian Abridgement Editorial Advisory Board (Canadian Association of Law Libraries)
Recognition
- 2017 Honsberger Award from the Toronto Lawyers Association
Professional Involvement
- Member, Canadian Bar Association
- Member, Ontario Bar Association
- Member, Legal Research Network
Community Involvement
- Elected Representative, Ward 6, Parent Involvement Advisory Committee (Toronto District School Board)
- Member, Rotary Club of Toronto West
- President, The Toronto Party for a Better City
- Director, Etobicoke Centre Federal Liberal Association
- Coach, Royal York Baseball League
- Coach and co-convenor, Humber Valley Hockey Association
Beyond the Office
Outside the office, Stephen enjoys playing ice hockey with some long-time friends from high school and golfing with his family. Stephen also enjoys collecting sports memorabilia and learning about Canadian history and ancient Roman coins.