The Complete Brief

  • September 28, 2026

    Proposed settlement of $3.4M-$8.7M reached in sexual assault class action

    A settlement agreement has been reached between the plaintiff and the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) to settle a class action that was brought against it and the defendant, Phillip (Hart) Baugniet, in an alleged sexual assault case.

  • September 28, 2026

    Manitoba to expand presumptive compensation coverage for firefighters

    Manitoba is strengthening workers’ compensation coverage for firefighters by widening the scope of job-related sickness and presuming their illnesses are work-related.

  • September 28, 2026

    LSO convocation approves cybersecurity program, real estate rule updates

    The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) has approved participation in a cybersecurity awareness program for lawyers and paralegals as the profession faces increasingly sophisticated threats to confidential client information, funds and property.

  • September 28, 2026

    Competition Bureau launches grocery investigation, seeks input

    The Competition Bureau has announced that it has launched an investigation into the use of minimum advertised pricing policies in the grocery sector due to competition concerns.

  • September 28, 2026

    Mortgage broker’s insurer must cover loss of client funds stolen from trust account: court

    The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that an insurer must cover a claim arising from a mortgage brokerage’s fraudulent misappropriation of client money, finding that funds held in trust can still qualify as “mortgage funds” under the policy’s fraud endorsement.

  • September 28, 2026

    Lawyers think they are good at communication — but do they pause?

    Ask any lawyer to name the most important advocacy tools and you will hear their checklist — knowing the law, skillfully drafting documents, studiously preparing for hearings and delivering forceful oratory. Almost no lawyer mentions that staying silent, pausing before speaking and delivering a relational message are the most important advocacy tools.

  • September 28, 2026

    Intergenerational business transfer capital gains exception: What the vendor gives up matters

    Section 84.1 of the Income Tax Act, the intergenerational transfer rules, has since 2024 contained a working exception for sales of a private company to a child’s corporation. Paragraph 84.1(2)(e) deems the vendor and the purchaser corporation to deal at arm’s length where the conditions of either ss. 84.1(2.31) or (2.32) are met, which switches off the deemed dividend and leaves the vendor with a capital gain eligible for the lifetime capital gains exemption — $1,275,000 for 2026. The conditions are not tax conditions. They are a statutory description of a vendor who has left the business, and the vendor’s counsel, not the accountant, is the one who has to make the client match it.

  • September 28, 2026

    A new report says Ontario’s protection orders are broken. The numbers are hard to argue with

    On Aug. 5, 2026, the Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) released two survey reports as part of its ongoing review of protection orders in the province. One surveyed 80 people with lived experience of the system. The other surveyed 257 legal and social service professionals who work inside it.

  • September 28, 2026

    Pulse Law welcomes Anthony de Fazekas as IP lead

    Anthony de Fazekas has joined Pulse Law as a lawyer and intellectual property lead, working in Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.

  • September 28, 2026

    Brynne Thomas, Sian Shin return to Epstein Cole

    Brynne Thomas and Sian Shin have returned to Epstein Cole as associates in Toronto after previously working with the firm as summer and articling students.