Blog Archive: 2019

Family law in Ontario faced some big changes in 2019 particularly with respect to Bill C-78, proposed changes to the Divorce Act. This Bill received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019.

Obviously, managing client expectations is absolutely essential to be an effective advocate or advisor. Managing expectations is also important as it remains the #1 reason clients sue lawyers – inadequate communication. In fact, a 2019 article from LawPRO states that 4 of every 5 lawyers can expect to be the subject of a claim during their career.

Complainants in sexual assault cases have a statutory right to independent legal counsel. This right stemmed from proposals under Bill C-51 to the Criminal Code. In Ontario, there has been a policy decision to fund these cases and an agreement between the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Aid Ontario.

A statement of claim lands on your desk. You begin reading. You cringe, shudder, and maybe suppress a laugh. You think: this claim needs to be dismissed – but how?"

As you know, one of the main benefits of our CPDonline.ca service is the convenience. You don’t have to travel to learn and earn CPD credits. Have you implemented a video conferencing application such as Facetime, Skype or Zoom for your client meetings? What happens if you need documents witnessed or affidavits sworn? Can you witness these documents where your client is physically in one location and you are in another?

Autonomous vehicles (AV’s) aka driverless cars are a game-changer for both the automotive and insurance industry and, arguably, society. Despite several high profile deaths involving an AV Uber and Tesla in 2018, driverless buses and cars are being tested on the roads in Canada and elsewhere. What will the future hold?

In my first post about Cannabis CPD I looked at Personal Rights/Responsibilities and Employment Law. Today we’re focusing on the Corporate & IP perspective, along with Real Estate Tenancies & Solicitors. I hope you find it useful!

Since 2011 when mandatory professionalism hours were introduced, there have been many presentations on civility, ethics and professional conduct and references to the rules as "tools to be used by combatants", or "constraints on lawyers".

Don’t worry! I wasn’t thinking of you when I reviewed this popular 2018 video! However, with the popularity of snap chat, Instagram, Reddit, to name a few, I thought it would be helpful to share various civil remedies available to innocent plaintiffs in revenge porn cases.

If you practice plaintiff personal injury or insurance defence, the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Rankin (Rankin’s garage) v. J.J. will be of interest. In particular, you may want to hear why Professor Allan Hutchinson believes the SCC got it wrong.