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September 29, 2026
In this case, the plaintiffs were a group of associated Swatch companies (Swatch) that owned a series of trademarks including Swatch, Tissot and Longines, registered for use with watches and in some cases smartwatches. The claim related to digital watch faces (apps) that could be downloaded to Samsung’s smartwatches from the Samsung Galaxy app store (SGA store).
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September 28, 2026
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.
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September 28, 2026
The United States has launched tariffs under the Trump regime, and possibly future regimes, to counteract its decline as the world’s leading superpower. These tariffs impact valuation of any business engaged in global trade. To value such businesses, one must consider where the business operates, and whether that jurisdiction adjusted (i.e., Australia or Ireland, etc.), complied or negotiated a deal (i.e., the EU, Japan, U.K. and others), or retaliated (i.e., China or Canada).
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September 25, 2026
As part of the federal government's Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES), Ottawa is inviting proposals for a project called the WES Ecosystem Fund.
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September 25, 2026
Barry Anthony Cullain owned one-third of an Ontario elevator maintenance business and was its vice-president of operations. The other two shareholders each held a third. While an acquisition financing was closing, they proposed to buy his shares. The financing failed. They took him off the payroll and said he had retired.
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September 25, 2026
Supreme Court of Canada Justice Suzanne Côté is thinking about what life after the bench might look like, she tells Law360 Canada. The court’s impactful and most prolific judge, who turned 68 this week with no apparent loss of drive or energy, says she is healthy and still loves the work that has earned her a reputation as a trailblazer and original thinker.
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September 25, 2026
In Punjwani v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2026 FC 1033, the Federal Court addressed a recurring analytical error in Start-Up Visa cases: treating the qualifying-business requirements in s. 98.06 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227 (IRPR), as though they answered an artificial-transaction finding under paragraph 89(b). They do not. The provisions impose different requirements, and an argument directed to one may fail to address a refusal under the other.
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September 23, 2026
Michelle Kropp and Will Russell have joined Sport Law as partners in Toronto.
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September 23, 2026
Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner says Canada’s independent justice system and perspective on confronting global threats to the rule of law has attracted interest abroad. Speaking Sept. 22 at a Newfoundland and Labrador law society event in St. John’s, Chief Justice Wagner told local lawyers and those online that he was the only non-European court leader invited to attend the meeting in Cyprus last June of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the 27-member European Union (EU).
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September 23, 2026
Ontario’s Arbitration Act represents one of many efforts by the state to delegate the adjudicative function to non-judicial decision-makers.
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September 23, 2026
Since March 26, 2026, every reporting entity under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act must under the new s. 9.6(1.1) “ensure that the program is reasonably designed, risk-based and effective.” Its schedule entry is a very serious violation with a $20 million per violation ceiling for an entity ($4 million for a person). Little has been written about what s. 9.6(1.1) actually adds: an express program-level performance standard.
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September 23, 2026
In 1171757 Ontario Limited et al. v. 1171758 Ontario Limited et al., 2026 ONSC 4414, the Superior Court of Justice applied the rules of contractual interpretation to hold that a shareholder of a corporate partner qualified as a “party” to a partnership agreement, even if he is not a principal under that corporation, or has ceded controlling power to his partner by way of a power of attorney (POA).
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September 22, 2026
There are plenty of obvious lessons from the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) investigation into Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers. But one lesson should matter to every professional athlete: when a serious investigation begins, your lawyer can quickly become the most important member of your off-court team.
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September 22, 2026
In mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions, there is a constant struggle between the vendor and purchaser regarding risk allocation. This tension often arises from uncertainty regarding future performance, issues identified during due diligence and disagreements regarding value. One common mechanism for bridging that gap is an earnout, which makes part of the purchase price contingent on the post-closing performance of the target business.
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September 22, 2026
The chief difference between outstanding lawyers and those who just schlep along is how they prioritize the work and the clients they take. Many of us never think much about that, particularly if you live under the gun of monthly targets or run a dump truck practice. But if you look around you at the maestros of the profession, it always seems that they are working on interesting, consequential and financially rewarding matters. This is no accident.
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September 21, 2026
The Carney government says its proposed “Building Canada Strong” legislation and supporting Cabinet directive will ensure that federal reviews and decisions on major project proposals are completed within one year of a “comprehensive” submission by the project’s proponents. The 243-page Building Canada Strong Act (Bill C-39) was introduced in the House of Commons Sept. 21 by Transport Minister and Government House leader Steven MacKinnon.
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September 21, 2026
Judges in Atlantic Canada are confronting a rapid rise in the use of artificial intelligence in court proceedings, warning that unverified AI-generated materials, deepfakes and increasing volumes of submissions could threaten accuracy, privacy and the efficient administration of justice.
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September 21, 2026
Counsel outside Quebec are generally sound on the threshold question. Asked whether the Charter of the French Language applies to a client’s operations, most get to the right answer, and the amendments introduced by Bill 96 have been analyzed at length since the principal commercial provisions came into force on June 1, 2025.
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September 18, 2026
In the previous article, “Clashing swords over the black box of AI legal interpretation,” we looked at the problems with treating AI as if it can “think” or “reason” in the requisite sense. We also examined the controversy over using AI to determine “ordinary meaning.” This time, we shift the focus from what AI cannot do to what it can.
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September 17, 2026
The hardest employment mediations I run are rarely hard because the law is complicated. They are hard because one side, sometimes both, arrives committed to a position the law no longer supports. Once a client has been told its case is strong, it is difficult to accept a different assessment later, even after an appellate court has shifted the ground.
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September 17, 2026
Corinne Pereira appealed three B.C. Supreme Court orders arising from her proceedings against the B.C. Labour Relations Board: an order striking her petition for judicial review, an order declaring her proceedings vexatious, and an order dismissing her application to disqualify the chambers judge for alleged bias.
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September 16, 2026
This week, federal, provincial and territorial privacy and information commissioners and ombuds met in Ottawa to “explore ways to continue to foster public trust in democratic institutions through transparency, privacy protection and independent oversight.”
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September 16, 2026
As employers begin planning for 2027, they should take the opportunity to review the immigration status of their foreign national workforce. In addition to operational disruptions, employers may also face regulatory and compliance risks if foreign nationals work without legal work authorization.
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September 16, 2026
A behind-the-scenes bid by federal chief justices to make future recommendations from the federal independent judicial pay commission process binding on Ottawa is on hold as representatives of Canada’s 1,200 federal judges and Federal Court associate judges sue the Carney government for allegedly not giving “meaningful effect” to the work and non-binding advice of the latest quadrennial Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission (Giardini Commission.)
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September 16, 2026
When a deceased’s assets are concentrated in a private corporation, the estate trustee often feels pressured to become a director of the company. Is there a conflict? Is it a prudent course for a professional estate trustee?