Statutory Trust
A statutory trust is one brought into existence by operation of a statute, i.e. a law by a legislature. In essence a statute designates defined property in defined situations as trust property and mandates that a certain person shall be a trustee for same. These may be in favour of the Crown (be it the […]
Emoji = Liable
Be careful about how you use emojis. In a recent Saskatchewan case a farm corporation was held liable to pay about $82,000 for flax ordered from a grain company because the defendant had replied with a thumbs up emoji … … to an text fixing the amount and price. This was considered sufficient to establish […]
Song Xue’s “Top Tips to Avoid Litigation”
Song Xue of Harper Grey LLP privides his “Top Tips to Avoid Litigation”. I give you the list below, but the article is worth reading in full if you don’t want to be involved in a court case that you could have avoided. Create Clear Agreements – In Writing Read the Agreement – Carefully! Consider […]
“The small claims system is in disarray and it is depriving many of access to justice”
Noted lawyer and legal writer Howard Levitt describes the chaos that Covid-19 has caused within the Small Claims Court system. The article is well worth reading in its entirety.
Coup de grâce to the coup de grâce
In March of this year this blog had an entry called “The coup de grâce for faxes“, which talked about the end of faxes for almost all purposes under the Rules of Civil Procedure. In it I said this: The only thing left (according the the Rules) was the possibility that Confirmation Forms could be […]
If you think “rent” and “buy” mean different things …
… Apple thinks that you are not a reasonable person. In fact, Apple takes the position — in court, no less — that no reasonable person would think that. “Apple sued for terminating account with $25,000 worth of apps and videos” “Lawsuits claim people don’t truly own content they purchase on digital platforms.”
The coup de grâce for faxes
In a blog post late last year we noted that faxes were Out, at least so far as service under the Rules of Civil Procedure are concerned. The only thing left (according the the Rules) was the possibility that Confirmation Forms could be sent to court offices by fax because that hadn’t been specifically removed […]
Termination clauses in employment contracts: dead?
Last year, the Ontario Court of Appeal [ONCA] in a case called Waksdale v Swegon North America Inc. [“Waksdale“] said that a termination clause in an employment contract must be looked at in its entirety, and so invalid clauses can invalidate valid clauses, even where they are separate and governed by a severance clause. The […]
The death of fax
Lawyers have been one of the last holdouts using fax machines. Part of that was simply the Rules of Civil Procedure, which made very specific provision for service by fax, and a fax confirmation sheet was good enough for the court that something had indeed been sent. Service by email, however, used to require a […]
Limitation Periods Resumption
The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, is extending orders currently in force under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 (ROA). The extensions provide the government with the necessary flexibility to address the ongoing risks and effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and ensure important measures remain in place […]
