Blog Archive: 2021 | CPDonline.ca

Blog Archive: 2021

If I Knew Then What I Know Now

As litigators, you spend your entire career seeing the courtroom from the counsel podium, watching the often-inscrutable face of a judge looking back. You have probably wondered: What is the judge thinking? Unfortunately, there is no rule of procedure that allows us to call a timeout and ask, "how am I doing so far?".

Re-learn To Take Action

When it comes to taking action, we shouldn’t only put up a flag, wear a button or attend a parade in order to create space where everyone, not just 2SLGBTQ+, has an opportunity to thrive.

TLA 17th Annual Masters: The Anatomy of Motion

Today’s TLA program is essential for Licensing Candidates, recent calls and others who are new to arguing motions or want a refresher. "The Anatomy of a Motion" dissects the fundamental parts of a motion, including procedure, presentation, practice management, remote communications, professionalism and ethics.

Litigation and Real Estate

This year has been a crazy one for real estate lawyers. In today’s MLA seminar, our presenters outline remedies for when a transaction falls apart, and correcting common conversion errors as these tips may assist you with challenges in your busy practice.

Save Time With Tech

The Lawyer Tech Course Software program will teach you specific ways to use computer software in legal practise. These tips aid in accomplishing practical goals as well as saving time, reducing stress, producing higher-quality work, increasing productivity, and staying safe online.

Lawyer vs Contract

Employment contracts can be intimidating. Today’s presenter, Chris Bergs, shares his knowledge surrounding the complexity of the employment relationship in Ontario.

Brush Up Your Etiquette

Taking some time to refresh your email communication is never a bad idea. In today's Write to Learn session, our presenter goes over email etiquette.

Navigate Provincial Offences

In today’s MLA seminar, our presenters share information to help you navigate provincial offences including offences under the Highway Traffic Act and "win" or reduce the penalty for your clients. This includes: new stunt driving legislation, increased penalties for stunt driving, the suspension of limitation periods ending.

Small Claims, Big Changes

Early last year, the jurisdiction of Small Claims court increased from $25,000 to $35,000. Given this substantial increase, it is important for lawyers, paralegals and articling students to be effective in this court especially while they are proceeding through Zoom.

Options for Resolving an Insolvent Estate

In today’s featured MLA seminar, our presenter shares his knowledge surrounding options for resolving an insolvent estate. You will recall that being insolvent doesn’t mean bankruptcy (according to the BIA), and an estate trustee would have to take extra steps to file for bankruptcy.

Mental Health in The Courtroom

In today’s MLA featured seminar, we will focus on the ways in which our regulators deal with issues of mental illness in the context of disciplinary proceedings, and the extent to which regulatory assessments of professional conduct take (or ought to take) mental health issues into account.

Brush Up Your Negotiation Skills

In this week’s featured MLA seminar our presenters delve into the benefits of mediating estate litigation matters. Given the ongoing backlog of the courts, having strong negotiation skills is a great strength to have.

How to Run Your Practice as a Business

Today's CCLA seminar features successful defense lawyers who run their own businesses. They will discuss the basics of running a practice from a business perspective and the lessons they’ve learned from doing so.

When Things Get Messy: Shareholder and Partnership Disputes

Shareholder and partnership disputes can be difficult to resolve. In this video, three experienced commercial litigators discuss their own experiences in partnership and shareholder disputes. This MLA seminar will go into detail on common issues and clauses that give rise to disputes; considerations for maintaining the operation of the company while litigation is underway; and practical tips for resolving disputes.

Law & Ethics: How To Defend the Unpopular

For many lawyers, taking on an unpopular cause is viewed as a post of honour. The oath that lawyers swear in Ontario mandates that they "not refuse causes of complaint reasonably founded." Lawyers across the country swear a similar oath. This implies an objective standard, one of a reasonable person. But, what about a lawyer’s conscience?

Stand Out From The Rest

Every lawyer can be a leader - at any stage of their career and from any point on their firm’s organizational chart. The question is, what kind of leader do you want to be?

Real Estate Practice: Issues In Toronto

Keeping up-to-date on local knowledge can help real estate practitioners better advise their clients on aspects of their property and transactional issues. The real estate industry is always changing, which means the law can change with it.

Enforcing Foreign Judgments: Strategies, Tools and Tactics from the Trenches

A successful judgment or arbitral award is often only the first step in obtaining recovery for your clients. The unsuccessful party frequently hides assets or refuses to pay, requiring extensive enforcement efforts, particularly foreign judgments.

Family Law Conference: Part 1 – Divorce Act Amendments

If you are starting out as a Wills & Estates lawyer, or have some experience under your belt but need a refresher, then you’ll want to join our panel of seasoned lawyers.

Wills & Estates Lawyers: A Potpourri of Considerations

If you are starting out as a Wills & Estates lawyer, or have some experience under your belt but need a refresher, then you’ll want to join our panel of seasoned lawyers.

Steps to Success: Building the Foundation and Finding the Right Mentor(s)

Research shows that female lawyers face three main challenges within their profession: gender bias, lack of role models and champions, and exclusion from informal male networks.

Search and Seizure

How can defence counsel fully comply with the notice requirements under the rules of court, without unduly tipping their hand and compromising their tactical advantage?

The Quick & Dirty Personal Injury Update

In this video from the MLA, we have a few Personal Injury Updates to bring you up to speed on.

Litigation Funding for Commercial Claims in Canada

When does litigation funding for commercial claims make sense? Clients see litigation funding as a means of advancing claims, while sharing or offsetting the risk and cost.

Drafting Employment Contracts to Avoid Disputes

Employment contracts represent an attempt to create certainty in an employment relationship. However, they will only create certainty if they are properly drafted.

Pre-Trials for Young Lawyers: Virtual Chat with the Honourable Madam Justice Akbarali

Are you a young lawyer looking to sharpen your Civil Pre-Trial Conference advocacy skills? In this video from the TLA, the Honourable Madam Justice Akbarali will share her tips and tricks and answer your questions.

Avoiding Common Human Rights Pitfalls in Organizations and Businesses

Do you know the three most common human rights pitfalls many organizations and workplaces experience? You may want to watch this seminar...

High Tech Practice Management

The High-Tech Practice Management course teaches lawyers practical lessons that they can put into use right away to improve how they practice law. These skills will help you excel in all aspects of your practice.

Ethics and civility in personal injury!

Are you up-to-date on your ethical and professional obligations in personal injury cases?

The Real Estate Update – environmental indemnities, and other practical information for solicitors

How does broader "factual environmental matrix" affect the interpretation of an indemnity? Do environmental indemnities enure to the benefit of others? These are a few of the questions we need to ask.

Serious Illness Planning

We all know it’s important to designate an attorney for personal care for ourselves and our clients. However, most planning doesn’t go beyond making such a designation. Our thinking is often limited to "end of life" decisions.

Embracing LinkedIn - Make Your Profile Work For You

With our pre-COVID lives in the rear-view mirror, social media is integral to your professional success. LinkedIn is growing in popularity as the place to connect, share and raise your profile with colleagues, referrers and prospective clients. But is your LinkedIn profile working for you?

Top Practice Tips for the Commercial List

As you know, Toronto’s Commercial List is a specialized court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice comprised of judges with experience in managing complex commercial litigation.

Waksdale: Back to the Drawing Board?

The Supreme Court of Canada recently refused to hear the appeal of the Waksdale case. As such, the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision stands, demanding a review of all employment contracts.

Parole, Temporary Release and Covid-19

Criminal lawyers are experts in preliminary hearings, trials and sentencing, but what about representing a client after they have been sentenced, in a Temporary Absence or a Parole Hearing?

Virtual decisions: Judging in pandemic times

In our continuing series on helping you litigate within the confines of a post-pandemic world, today we are focusing on balancing the technological adaptations required by the global pandemic with effective yet ethical advocacy.

Professionalism in the Year of COVID

The CCLA Professionalism Panel is a beloved annual fixture on the CPD calendar. This year's edition focuses on the impact of COVID on issues of Professionalism.

Addressing the issues of systemic discrimination

Allyship means something different depending on who you talk to. According to Justice O'Bonsawin, it is a synonym of partnership. She asserts that everyone should be working towards a common goal of teamwork, regardless of race or gender.

2021 Commercial Litigation Update

In this week's update we're going to focus on some recent case comments in the Commercial Litigation field. In this video, the MLA panel will speak on three distinct topics.

Tips for Remote Preparation for Litigation

As we continue to practice physical distancing, working remotely has become the norm. As in-person meetings have become so uncommon, how do you effectively navigate your practice and prepare a witness or a client for any given step in the litigation process, especially if they have any special needs or challenges?

Three Judges Provide Their Top Advocacy Tips

As family lawyers, we often wonder what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong when appearing before a judge.

Unconscious Bias in Litigation

In this transformative age when actions against unconscious bias and social injustice have swiftly gathered momentum, we bring you an enlightening Q & A on what this means for us as people, as a profession, and as propellers for change.

2SLGBTQ+ Creating Positive Space

Have you considered any proactive ways to include and support the 2SLGBTQ+ community in areas where you have influence and authority?

Personal Injury Update

Our first content highlight of 2021 comes fresh from the MLA Personal Injury Update. In this video you'll get multiple useful and insightful briefings on the following topics...