The Lawyer's Daily

LSO decision on practice fees sends ‘terrible’ message to profession: bencher

Law Society of Ontario benchers voted 27-25 to table Geoff Pollock’s motion at the Sept. 24 Convocation, which would have implemented an across the board 25 per cent cut in fees for lawyers and paralegals in 2021.

Friday, September 25, 2020 @ 9:37 AM

The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) benchers have decided to defer a motion to give lawyers and paralegals a cut in the practice fees to help deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a move being called condescending by the lawyer who brought it forward. ... [read more]

Ontario closes strip clubs, limits restaurant hours as new COVID-19 cases remain high

Friday, September 25, 2020 @ 3:26 PM

The Ontario government is taking immediate action to close strip clubs, reduce bar hours and limit alcohol sales in an effort to battle back persistently high COVID-19 cases. The amendment to order O.Reg 364/20: Rules for Areas in Stage 3 under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 26, across the entire province, according to a Sept. 25 government news release. ... [read more]

East Coast Appeal Court hears dispute over senior’s plan for medically assisted death

Friday, September 25, 2020 @ 2:04 PM

Nova Scotia’s Court of Appeal has reserved its decision in a controversial case involving a woman trying to stop her ill husband from having a medically assisted death. The Sept. 24 decision to reserve judgment involves a husband and wife referred to in past court documents as X, aged 83, and Y, aged 82, respectively, and their dispute over a chronically ill X wanting medical assistance in dying (MAiD) and Y being vehemently opposed to it. ... [read more]

Ontario seeks to simplify family law with new legislation Doug Downey sm

Friday, September 25, 2020 @ 1:36 PM

The Ontario government has unveiled new legislation it says will make it “easier, faster and more affordable” to resolve family legal matters. If passed, the legislation — dubbed the Moving Ontario Family Law Forward Act, 2020 — will help make Ontario’s complex family law system easier to navigate by modernizing language, simplifying appeal routes and improving the online child support service, according to a Sept. 24 government news release. ... [read more]

Group predicts Charter challenge to Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 response Marty_Moore_sm

Thursday, September 24, 2020 @ 9:12 AM

Saskatchewan’s government will “likely” face a future Charter challenge over lockdown measures put in place for the COVID-19 health crisis, says an official with a group accusing the province of violating residents’ rights in its response to the pandemic. This comes in the wake of a Sept. 14 report by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which alleges that Saskatchewan’s government used an unjustifiable overreach of power to enact rules the JCCF says violated people’s rights to move, assemble, travel, associate, worship and work. ... [read more]