Civil Litigation

  • July 10, 2026

    Many trial judges overworked and stressed — but not as much as lawyers: new national survey

    Many federally appointed trial judges report stress from excessive workloads, limited control over their time in the workplace and too few support resources, according to a new national survey of judges’ physical and psychological health. On July 9, the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) reported on extensive research commissioned from the Université de Sherbrooke between 2024 and 2026 by the council of 44 chief and associate chief justices.

  • July 10, 2026

    Ripe for disaster: Ontario court reiterates importance of causation analyses in coverage disputes

    The recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Green Rise Foods Inc. v. N. V. Hagelunie, 2026 ONCA 334 (Green Rise) serves as a helpful reminder of the importance of a careful causation analysis in insurance coverage disputes where several factors arguably caused or contributed to the claimed loss.

  • July 10, 2026

    Public law meets private actions: How to sue for abuse of public power

    Bringing an action against a government actor can be riddled with difficulty. Immunity provisions frequently shield state conduct from civil actions. Where a claim is not carefully crafted, it can easily be dismissed on a preliminary motion as an improper means of seeking to reverse the impugned government decision itself. Moreover, torts like misfeasance of public office have very specific requirements that must be proved if you are to succeed.

  • July 09, 2026

    Court rejects investors’ constructive trust claim over project land

    The B.C. Court of Appeal has dismissed a constructive trust claim by investors in a failed land-development project, finding that their rights were limited to a contingent share of project income or remaining net assets and did not amount to an interest in land.

  • July 09, 2026

    Ron Davis joins Diamond & Diamond as senior counsel

    Diamond & Diamond Lawyers has announced that Ronald Davis has joined the firm as senior counsel in its class actions department.

  • July 09, 2026

    N.B. inquest makes recommendations following inmate’s suicide

    A coroner’s inquest in New Brunswick has made recommendations on improving suicide prevention in health-care settings and correctional institutions after an inmate committed suicide in one of the province’s jails.

  • July 09, 2026

    When the presumed dead return: SCC’s ruling on declaration of death in Riddle v. ivari

    What happens when someone declared legally dead turns out to be very much alive? On April 10, 2026, the Supreme Court of Canada confronted precisely that question in Riddle v. ivari, 2026 SCC 9, issuing a unanimous ruling on the annulment of a declaratory judgment of death with significant implications for Quebec civil procedure and life insurance litigation.

  • July 09, 2026

    Pre-amendment procurement process keeps construction dispute in former lien regime: court

    The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a finding that a payment dispute over a construction project first proposed in 2017 — but whose agreement was not executed until 2020 — is governed by Ontario’s former Construction Lien Act rather than the amended Construction Act’s prompt-payment regime.

  • July 09, 2026

    Boots, brands and broken bodies: Law and morality meet the myth of progress at Calgary Stampede

    Modern corporate rodeos like the Calgary Stampede’s animal events are not benign traditions. They are disciplined spectacles of risk transfer: animals absorb the danger while humans collect status, sponsorship visibility and curated views of the consequences.

  • July 09, 2026

    REGULATION OF PROFESSION - Disciplinary procedure - Investigation of complaints

    Appeal by Oleynik from an order dismissing his appeal from a decision of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador (Law Society) rejecting his complaint. The complaint was against a lawyer acting for Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador in ongoing litigation involving Oleynik.