Civil Litigation
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February 26, 2025
Ontario ruling shows litigants need to be more rigorous in how evidence is called at trial: lawyer
Ontario’s top court has ruled against a software company that claimed a marketing firm had breached a distribution agreement by copying the features and functionality of a program it had designed.
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February 26, 2025
SCC halts use of its ‘X’ account ‘for now,’ citing ‘strategic priorities and resource allocation’
In a move that has sparked controversy in Canada and beyond, the Supreme Court of Canada tells Law360 Canada that “for now” it will no longer use its official account on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, a high-profile billionaire associate of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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February 26, 2025
Balancing testator autonomy and dependent rights in B.C. estate law
In British Columbia, the Wills, Estates and Succession Act addresses a broad range of issues critical to estate planning, administration, and beneficiary rights. One significant concern in the Act is the balancing the rights of a testator to dispose of their estate as they see fit with the rights of dependent spouses and children to a fair portion of their loved one’s estate. Achieving that balance requires consideration of numerous factors, including a testator’s capacity to make a valid will, any suspicious circumstances surrounding its creation, and a legal dependent’s right to financial support.
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February 26, 2025
Peerless launches private practice
After more than 10 years (four of those as managing partner) at McKenzie Lake Lawyers, Michael Peerless has left the firm to launch his independent law practice Peerless Law.
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February 26, 2025
Women & 2SLGBTQI+ applicants came out ahead as ‘highly recommended’ for federal benches in 2023-2024
Asserting his new administration is “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity,” U.S. President Donald Trump recently issued controversial executive orders banning diversity, equity and inclusion policies and hiring at the federal level in America. But in Canada, the most recent demographic statistics on federal judicial appointments and the professional competence and character assessments made by the Trudeau government’s non-partisan judicial advisory committees (JACs) indicate that diversity has gone hand in hand with “merit.”
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February 26, 2025
How Trump’s proposed tariffs will affect executive employment contracts | Frank Portman
The recent threats by the Trump administration of tariffs against Canadian goods, and the recent imposition of global tariffs against American aluminum and steel imports, have caused great consternation on both sides of the border. By some estimates, in a worst-case scenario tariffs could cost over 600,000 Canadian jobs and devastate the economy generally, according to the Feb. 3 Globe and Mail article by Vanmalla Subramanian titled “Tariffs would lead to job losses in auto and resource sectors, economists predict.”
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February 26, 2025
A complicated analysis: Tracing excluded property into co-mingled family property
Family law cases often involve an exercise of tracing to determine the value of excluded property that has been co-mingled with divisible family property. In Mills v. O’Connor 2025 BCCA 34 the Court of Appeal tackles this issue, providing their analysis of the appropriate approach in the context of a difficult and complicated family property situation.
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February 26, 2025
GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS - Social assistance - Entitlement - Employment status and income - Refusal to provide assistance
Application by Applicant for judicial review of the Canadian Revenue Agency's ("CRA") two decisions finding her ineligible for the Canada Recovery Benefit ("CRB") and the Canada Emergency Response Benefit ("CERB").
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February 25, 2025
Major auto insurers face proposed class action over alleged use of flawed valuation reports
Intact Insurance, Aviva General Insurance and a number of other major automobile insurers are facing a proposed class action over their alleged use of valuation reports containing arbitrary and unlawful charges, which lowered vehicle valuations and reduced payouts for total loss accident claims.
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February 25, 2025
Court rejects disclosure application for records to be sent to U.S. in alleged fraud case
The British Columbia Supreme Court has dismissed an application for disclosure in an alleged mass-mail fraud case that led to the seizure of over 500 boxes of records.