Civil Litigation
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November 14, 2024
Prosecuting civil tort claims in context of family proceedings following Ahluwalia appeal
Since the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia 2023 ONCA 476, in which the creation of a new tort of family violence was rejected as unnecessary because existing torts are sufficient, there has been some uncertainty about how civil claims arising from intimate partner violence and abuse should be dealt with in the context of family law proceedings.
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November 14, 2024
Removal of untranslated English decisions on website won’t end novel lawsuit against SCC: plaintiff
The Supreme Court of Canada’s removal of thousands of pre-1970 (mostly unilingual-English) judgments from its website won’t end an unprecedented Federal Court lawsuit that aims to compel the top court’s registry to fix alleged violations of the Official Languages Act by translating the court’s unilingual decisions into the other official language, says the plaintiff language rights group Droits collectifs Québec.
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November 14, 2024
Limitation applicable to constructive trust and unjust enrichment claims
The decision in Ingram v. Kulynych Estate, 2024 ONCA 678 (Ingram), by the Ontario Court of Appeal addressed whether the 10-year limitation period under s. 4 of the Real Property Limitations Act R.S.O. 1990, c. L.15 (RPLA) applies to the respondent, Kathleen Ingram’s, constructive trust and unjust enrichment claim against Henry Kulynych’s estate rather than the two-year period under s. 38(3) of the Trustee Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. T.23 (Trustee Act).
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November 14, 2024
Judicial review of a regulation | Sara Blake
The Supreme Court has confirmed the established scope of review of the validity of regulations: Auer v. Auer, [2024] S.C.J. No. 36. First, it has confirmed that regulations are reviewable only if they are inconsistent with their enabling statute or the Constitution. Second, the court confirmed that regulations are not reviewable as to whether, as a matter of policy, they are necessary, wise or effective in practice.
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November 13, 2024
CanLII sues AI-based legal research platform for alleged data scraping and copyright violations
The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) has filed a lawsuit against a company behind an AI chatbot over allegations it bulk downloaded over 3.5 million records from CanLII’s website in violation of its terms of service and its copyright in the relevant works.
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November 13, 2024
National workplace health and safety organization launches online portal for businesses
The Hamilton, Ont.-based Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has launched an online portal aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses stay on the right side of workplace safety laws and regulations.
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November 13, 2024
Pros and cons of using a parenting co-ordinator
Family lawyers today are constantly looking for alternative methods to achieve resolution. To borrow a phrase from our politicians, there are now many “tools in the toolbox” to assist us. Not quite so some 47 years ago, but things have certainly improved over time (there I said it, something is better today than when I started to practise).
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November 13, 2024
Lessons in the law of contracts: The meeting of the minds
The law of contracts is comprised of many important legal principles. One of those principles is that in order to have a valid and enforceable contract the parties must be ad idem. In other words, there must be a meeting of the minds about the essential terms of the contract. In the absence of a meeting of the minds, an alleged agreement between the parties is unenforceable.
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November 12, 2024
B.C. Court of Appeal upholds $1.5M damages order in defamation dispute involving competing firms
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal in a case where a company was involved in a defamation campaign against a competitor and damages of $1.5 million were ordered. Counsel for the respondents Roger McConchie said it was “the most complex defamation case” he has ever handled.
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November 12, 2024
Federal government orders binding arbitration to end labour disputes at key ports
The federal government has ordered an end to work stoppages at ports in British Columbia and Quebec through the imposition of final binding arbitration to resolve ongoing labour disputes affecting the daily movement of goods worth over $1.3 billion.