Wills, Trusts & Estates
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January 10, 2024
Reynolds Mirth adds two partners
Edmonton’s Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP has announced that Lauren Chalaturnyk and Emma Banfield have become partners.
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January 10, 2024
Manitoba regulator outlaws video ID of clients involved in financial dealings
As part of ongoing efforts to protect its members from being used in money laundering schemes, the Law Society of Manitoba has made it so lawyers can no longer use video conferencing to verify the ID of clients involved in financial transactions.
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January 10, 2024
Navigating the digital future: Law Society of Ontario’s virtual verification update
New year, new rules! The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) has started the new year by implementing virtual verification requirements for lawyers and paralegals, effective Jan. 1. As Canadian society moves towards a more digital world, the legal profession is continuing to follow suit by adopting new virtual practices as financial misconduct and fraud continue to be a serious concern in Ontario.
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January 09, 2024
Priority of Crown’s debt over creditors of equal degree
The Crown’s “prerogative of priority” has been enforced in Canada since it was established as a colony of England. See Canada v. Bank of Nova Scotia, [1885] 11 S.C.R. 1 (“the Crown is entitled at common law to a preference … , the Queen’s rights and prerogatives extending to the colonies in like manner as they do to the mother country.”).
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January 08, 2024
Pallett Valo announces six new partners
Pallett Valo LLP welcomed six lawyers to its partnership as of Jan. 1: Ahmed Bulbulia, Monty Dhaliwal, Alan Kay, Andreea Muth, Lisa Sticht-Maksymec, and Maria Tassou.
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January 08, 2024
Three new partners for Aird & Berlis
Aird & Berlis has announced that Yosef Adler, Ryan Ghuman and Queenie Lo have joined the firm as partners and members of the firm’s corporate/commercial group.
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January 03, 2024
Costs submissions invites judicial ‘Oxymoron of the Year’ award
On Dec. 19, 2023, Justice Frederick Myers presided over a high-conflict estate case, Rai v. Bhalla, 2023 ONSC 7182, where the applicant identified 23 heads of relief against five parties, including the Public Trustee, and sought orders for the revocation of a power of attorney; an order for the appointment of a guardian for an elderly parent; an accounting of funds allegedly taken from the estate of the elderly parents; orders for a constructive and resulting trust; and a declaration that the family matriarch’s will was not valid.
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January 03, 2024
Federal Court mandates AI-usage disclosure; won’t use automated decision-making tools for now
The Federal Court is actively exploring how its judges and law clerks can use artificial intelligence tools to enhance the “efficiency and fairness of the legal system,” but Chief Justice Paul Crampton says the national trial court “will not use AI, and more specifically automated decision-making tools, to make its decisions or render its judgments, without first engaging in public consultations.”
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December 20, 2023
New partner, two new associates join Aird & Berlis
Aird & Berlis announced that Faye Kravetz has joined the firm as a partner and member of its tax, estates and trusts and tax controversy/tax litigation groups.
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December 18, 2023
Uncivil behaviour on rise amongst lawyers: report
Lawyers’ poor treatment of each other has become worse post-pandemic, according to a report by the Toronto Lawyers’ Association. The study, based on a recent survey involving 332 respondents from both Toronto and throughout Ontario, found that there has been a decline in “civility and professionalism” in the legal profession ever since lockdowns, self-isolation and other public health measures came to an end.