Latest
Friday, September 25, 2020 @ 2:03 PM
Sustaining our justice system in pandemic times | Roger Bilodeau
In recent months, several judges, court officials and observers have stated that the pandemic has thrust the justice system further along into the 21st century with the push to use all available technologies to maintain court operations. Many of them have also rightly pointed out that access to justice is still a challenge for a great number of Canadians. As courts take steps to resume regular operations, what does the future hold in terms of sustaining our justice system? Here are a few points to consider as governments, courts and other interested parties move forward to map out the future. ... [read more]
Thursday, September 24, 2020 @ 3:00 PM
Franchise arbitrations: Concurrent claims, affiliates
Franchise and related disputes increasingly raise issues about multiparty disputes involving concurrent claims in arbitration and court. The first article in this series was concerned with multiple agreements and multiple parties. This article outlines some of the franchise and related decisions when dealing with disputes involving affiliated parties. ... [read more]
Thursday, September 24, 2020 @ 2:48 PM
I spy with my little eye: Monitoring employee computers
It makes sense, if you think about it. An employer hires someone to do a certain job. The employer wants to make sure that the employee is, in fact, doing the very work that they were hired to do. The easiest way to monitor employees’ use of time and employer resources is to monitor them — either overtly or covertly. Many employers have implemented computer monitoring software that logs information such as the websites visited by employees and the length of time on the websites. ... [read more]
Thursday, September 24, 2020 @ 1:54 PM
Ontario to add 98 workplace inspectors to enforce pandemic safety measures
Ontario is hiring an additional 98 health and safety inspectors to help enforce COVID-19 protections at workplaces across the province. The hiring blitz is expected to bring the total staff of active inspectors to 507 from 409, according to a Sept. 23 government news release. ... [read more]
Thursday, September 24, 2020 @ 10:53 AM
Justice Department chief general counsel wins Catzman award
Rob Frater, chief general counsel for the federal Department of Justice, was awarded the Catzman Award for Professionalism and Civility at the virtual Opening of the Courts of Ontario ceremony on Sept. 22. ... [read more]
Wednesday, September 23, 2020 @ 11:20 AM
Franchise arbitrations: Concurrent claims, multiple parties
Franchise and related disputes increasingly raise issues about multiparty disputes involving concurrent claims in arbitration and court. This article outlines some of the franchise and related decisions in this area over the past 10 years. As can be observed from the cases, the court decisions are in some respect consistent with one another — when dealing with multiple agreements and multiple parties; while not too consistent — when dealing with disputes involving affiliated parties. ... [read more]
Tuesday, September 22, 2020 @ 9:34 AM
Federal Court’s ruling on patentability ‘good news for innovators,’ IP lawyer says
The Federal Court has forcefully struck down the approach used by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) to patent claims in a decision expected by the patent bar to have far-reaching implications, particularly for computer-implemented inventions. ... [read more]
Monday, September 21, 2020 @ 2:25 PM
LSO crowd-pleaser fee relief motion the opposite of what’s needed | Jonathan Rosenthal
Let’s say a government were to go rogue and compel you to have a limb amputated. Quick! Which one would you choose? ... [read more]
Monday, September 21, 2020 @ 11:07 AM
Will pandemic finally lead to lower annual fees for Ontario licensees? | Andrew Puiras
Annual fees have been a sort of perennial issue in Law Society of Ontario (LSO) politics, causing groans but never erupting to the forefront. In the 2019 bencher election, many candidates made lowering annual fees part of their platform, but annual fees got lost in the shuffle as the statement of principles took centre stage. In 2019, Convocation lowered 2020 annual fees for lawyers by $135 to $2,066, a modest decrease of approximately six per cent from the previous year. ... [read more]
Monday, September 21, 2020 @ 8:33 AM
Shareholder actions for loss of share value: Evolution of Ontario corporate law
Does a shareholder have a personal cause of action where harm is done to her personally as a result of a loss in company share value? This is the second of a two-part series in which we endeavour to answer this question. ... [read more]
