In-House Counsel
-
August 26, 2025
The accidental lollipop order: A cautionary tale
In an unusual twist of events, a seven-year-old boy inadvertently ordered 70,000 lollipops via Amazon, triggering a cascade of carton deliveries that quickly turned his family’s home into a logistical and sugary nightmare.
-
August 26, 2025
View from inside prison: The daily struggle
I wrote a lot of letters while in prison. Letters and phone calls (which can only be outgoing) were a lifeline for me, reminding me there was another life I would be going back to.
-
August 25, 2025
Exploring the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)
Effective Jan. 17, 2025, across the EU, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) aims to enhance the capacity of financial entities to withstand and respond to information and communication technologies (ICT)-related disruptions through proactive resilience mechanisms. This regulation reflects a global shift towards proactive measures to ensure the availability of increasingly digitized financial systems.
-
August 25, 2025
Increased judicial intervention to correct unfairness at key tribunals
Ontario’s administrative tribunals are facing increased scrutiny by the courts for unfairness in dismissing claims brought by tenants, landlords, employees, car accident victims and people who believe they have experienced discrimination or are seeking disability benefits.
-
August 25, 2025
Developments in employment law: Courts reinforce strict approach to termination provisions
Recent Ontario court decisions continue to reinforce a strict approach to termination provisions in employment contracts. We will discuss two of these cases, along with a third case where a termination provision was upheld.
-
August 22, 2025
PM removes tariffs on U.S. goods covered by CUSMA, 85% of trade with U.S. now tariff-free
Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced today that the Canadian government is removing all of Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods specifically covered under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). The decision will become effective Sept. 1 and matches what the United States has implemented. “In short, Canada and the U.S. have now re-established free trade for the vast majority of our goods,” the prime minister said in a press conference.
-
August 22, 2025
International disputes: SCC revisits contract-based jurisdiction for Canadian courts
A Canadian court can assume jurisdiction over a foreign dispute if a real and substantial connection exists between the claim and the forum in which it is brought. Whether that connection exists is governed by the two-stage test set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda, 2012 SCC 17 (Van Breda).
-
August 22, 2025
Estate planning: Ongoing income streams after death
For individuals benefitting from the payment of royalties, it is not uncommon for those payments to continue after death, which gives rise to considerations in the estate planning and estate administration contexts. The most prominent example in recent years may be that of Michael Jackson, recognized by Forbes as the highest-paid dead celebrity in 2024 and in several years prior — royalties earned from MJ: The Musical alone certainly bolstered the bottom line.
-
August 21, 2025
‘Let’s eat Grandma’: How commas can ruin or make your case
Remember the online meme comparing “Let’s eat grandma!” with “Let’s eat, grandma!”? Well, here we have the legal version of it.
-
August 21, 2025
‘Inadequate’ pay deters outstanding jurists from federal bench; $28,000 boost needed: commission
Canada’s 1,198 federally appointed judges should get a substantial lump sum salary increase — $28,000 — as their pay package is no longer enough to attract “outstanding” private bar lawyers to the bench, says the federal Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission, echoing warnings made by federal judicial leaders over the past few years.