Business
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July 19, 2024
Zero is the loneliest number | Murray Gottheil
In law firms, more zeros are better than fewer zeros. For example, announcing, “Look at me! I just closed a $100,000,000 acquisition!” impresses your colleagues more than saying, “I just did a deal worth $10,000,000.” A deal that was only worth $965,000 is not even worth mentioning. There just are not enough zeros. Frankly, it is almost embarrassing to have been involved with it.
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July 19, 2024
ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENCE — Mens rea — Wilful blindness
Appeal by accused from his conviction for one count of sexual assault after a jury trial. The complainant was the accused’s girlfriend. She alleged that he sexually assaulted her multiple times after her appendix surgery when she was in pain and her doctor advised no sex for six weeks. The jury convicted him on one count of sexual assault relating to an incident days after her surgery. The accused submitted that the jury instruction on prior inconsistent statements and false testimony was inadequate and that he erred by not instructing the jury to limit reliance on demeanour evidence and in instructing on wilful blindness for the mens rea of sexual assault. The accused argued that a new trial was required because of the judge’s errors in the jury instructions. The Crown sought to uphold the conviction, arguing that the jury was properly instructed and that the errors were insufficient to require a new trial.
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July 19, 2024
Defamation action dismissed on summary judgment motion
In general, defamation actions are not conducive to dismissal on a summary judgment motion. As explained by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Baglow v. Smith, 2012 ONCA 407, this general rule is based on the recognition that the threshold over which a statement must pass in order to be capable of being defamatory of a plaintiff is relatively low and the long-held view that the question of whether a statement is, in fact, defamatory is to be determined by the trier of fact on a full factual record with cross-examinations and possibly expert testimony.
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July 18, 2024
Federal Court orders government to disclose redacted information in $102M contract with Ford Canada
The Federal Court has directed the federal government to disclose some previously redacted information related to an agreement through which the government committed to contribute $102.4 million towards an engine program at the Ford plant in Windsor, Ont.
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July 18, 2024
Last major grocery chains sign on to Grocery Sector Code of Conduct
Touting it as a win for consumers, federal, provincial and territorial ministers of agriculture and agri-food have announced that all of Canada’s major grocery chains have now signed on to the Grocery Sector Code of Conduct that was developed by government and industry.
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July 18, 2024
Court finds doctor cannot amend libel claim against lawyer who represented car accident victim
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s Divisional Court has dismissed an appeal of a decision that denied a doctor’s request to amend his statement of claim in a libel case against a lawyer who was involved in a car accident insurance claim case.
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July 18, 2024
New criminal rate of interest comes into effect Jan. 1, 2025
On May 31, 2024, an Order in Council was made indicating that certain changes to s. 347 of the Criminal Code, as summarized below, will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
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July 18, 2024
FORMATION — Necessity for offer and acceptance — Communication of
Appeal by Riley from trial judge’s finding that there was binding contract for sale of goodwill of Farell’s investment book of business or alternatively, Riley was unjustly enriched. Farrell was an investment advisor at Gravitas Securities (Gravitas) with a book of clients. He agreed that his client’s investments would be handled by Riley, a portfolio manager.
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July 18, 2024
A new criterion for evaluating regulators
There is an increasing tendency to evaluate the performance of regulators of professions. Most of these evaluations are conducted by oversight bodies, such as the various superintendents in British Columbia, or by third-party consultants retained by the regulators themselves. Most evaluations have focused on the regulatory effectiveness of the body or the functionality of their governance. A new criterion for evaluation is emerging relating to their internal culture, particularly related to staff.
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July 18, 2024
Nature and creativity | Brian W. Baetz and John F. Evans
Nature is the enduring elegance in the background of our lives, giving much but asking very little from us, only respect. Nature has always inspired creativity. We will highlight just two examples of a number of creative manifestations that have been inspired by local nature in the Hamilton area.