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Monday, September 18, 2023 @ 2:09 PM
Pre-litigation third-party discovery order disallowed in estate case
In a recent Ontario case White v. White Estate, 2023 ONSC 3740, the court was faced with an unusual question: should a person who has not challenged a will be allowed to inspect the deceased’s lawyer’s files — to see if they have a reason to challenge the will? ... [read more]
Friday, September 15, 2023 @ 1:46 PM
[ Legal Wire ] - Ottawa proposes to spur competition, extend CEBA loan deadline, drop GST on rental construction
Ottawa says it will eliminate the GST on purpose-built apartment and student- and senior-housing rental builds; extend by a year the deadline for small businesses to repay their Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans; and introduce comprehensive reforms to the federal Competition Act, starting by dropping the “efficiencies” defence and boosting the Competition Bureau’s powers to compel the production of information. ... [read more]
Friday, September 15, 2023 @ 9:27 AM
Family law considerations in estate litigationThe best estate litigators are often very familiar with family law. They do not have a choice. Ontario’s Family Law Act (FLA) and Succession Law Reform Act (SLRA) provide disinherited spouses and children with legal options to claim against an estate. Dealing with these potential claims influences how lawyers draft domestic contracts, advise on estate planning and design their plan to attack a disinheritance. ... [read more]
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 @ 3:38 PM
Legal regulators challenge new tax law compelling bar to report clients’ confidential information
Canada’s more than 155,000 legal professionals — with a global reputation for successfully challenging multiple unconstitutional state incursions on the bar’s independence and ethical duties to clients — went to court again Sept. 11, this time battling what they contend is yet another bid by Ottawa over the past 25 years to turn them into state agents, in this instance by mandating that legal professionals report to federal tax authorities confidential client information about certain client tax transactions that might constitute tax avoidance. ... [read more]
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 @ 2:09 PM
[ Legal Wire ] - B.C. Court of Appeal upholds liquidation of $70M family real estate firm amid breakdown of trustThe British Columbia Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that it would be just and equitable to order the liquidation of a family-run real estate management and investment company with assets of over $70 million. ... [read more]
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 @ 10:35 AM
O’Sullivan Estate Lawyers expands trusts and estates teamO’Sullivan Estate Lawyers LLP has hired two senior trust and estate lawyers, partner Blair Botsford and senior associate lawyer Michael G. von Keitz. ... [read more]
Monday, September 11, 2023 @ 2:14 PM
All lawyers must know technology used by courts: experts
Regardless of age, practice or jurisdiction, lawyers must stay up-to-speed on technologies now being used by courts post-pandemic, say experts following a strongly worded “cautionary tale” out of Alberta’s highest court. ... [read more]
Friday, September 08, 2023 @ 2:53 PM
When a client lacks the capacity to instruct counselMental health issues are increasingly part of a family lawyer’s practice. Inadequate community resources for those suffering from such afflictions exasperate the problem. Often dealing with the emotional impact of a separation and/or divorce can drive an otherwise emotionally healthy client to emotional or mental breakdown. Marital breakdown and mental health issues often cause a family lawyer to question the client’s ability and capacity to instruct counsel. I have compiled this summary of issues that arise when counsel is confronted with a client who is not able to instruct for reasons of mental health and/or cognitive impairment. ... [read more]
Thursday, September 07, 2023 @ 2:37 PM
Ottawa names Quebec Court of Appeal judge to lead public inquiry into ‘foreign interference’
The Liberal government has established a “Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions,” following all-party agreement to the new commission of inquiry’s terms of reference and its commissioner. ... [read more]
Thursday, September 07, 2023 @ 1:36 PM - Last Updated: Friday, September 08, 2023 @ 4:45 PM
Tribunal’s ‘good character’ decision ‘black mark’ on profession, lawyer says; LSO appealsThe Law Society of Ontario’s (LSO) appeal of a Law Society Tribunal decision casts into the spotlight the need for lawyers to be of “good character.” The tribunal’s decision, which determined that a man who admitted to sexually abusing minors was of “good character,” granting his application for an L1 licence, is a “black mark” on the profession, a lawyer stressed. ... [read more]
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