In-House Counsel

  • September 29, 2026

    Bell’s disability benefits cutoff before planned return was prima facie discrimination: court

    The Federal Court of Appeal has found that a Bell employee established a prima facie case of disability discrimination after the company terminated her employment and ended her disability coverage before she began a planned gradual return to work.

  • September 29, 2026

    Shareholder denied access to corporate documents: Your rights under Quebec, federal law

    A group of shareholders restricts a minority shareholders’ access to the company’s financial statements. The objective isn’t administrative, but rather tactical: to keep the minority in the dark about the company’s actual financial condition, pressure them into selling below fair market value, or conceal irregularities like excessive compensation and disguised dividends.

  • September 29, 2026

    Federal Court of Appeal clarifies rules for CRA requests for unnamed persons

    The lengthy decision in Canada (National Revenue) v. Zeifmans LLP, 2026 FCA 147 in part involves a detailed analysis of the legal concepts of abuse of process and improper collateral attack as well as the relevant decisions in Canada (Customs and Revenue Agency) v. Artistic Ideas Inc., 2005 FCA 68 and Redeemer Foundation v. Minister of National Revenue, 2008 SCC 46.

  • September 29, 2026

    Legal experts explore risks and benefits of AI’s growing role, rapid adoption at Canadian firms

    Canadian lawyers are rapidly adopting artificial intelligence tools to streamline legal work, but industry leaders say firms must carefully assess privacy and data-retention risks. While AI could lower the cost of legal services and help serve more clients, it cannot replace human judgment and client relationships, they say.

  • September 29, 2026

    Writs of mandamus in U.S. immigration law: What they are, when to use them

    In general, a writ of mandamus (“mandamus”) is a formal court order that requires a government official, an agency or a lower court to take a specific action. The action must be within the duties of the office, agency or court, and there must be a legal requirement that the action be performed. Mandamus is extraordinary relief and is effectively utilized when there is a clear legal duty to be performed, a clear right to relief on the part of the petitioner, and the petitioner appears to have no alternative to obtain the relief they deserve.

  • September 29, 2026

    Negotiation damages for online trademark infringement

    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).

  • September 28, 2026

    Intergenerational business transfer capital gains exception: What the vendor gives up matters

    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.

  • September 28, 2026

    Business valuations and M&A during tariff uncertainty

    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).

  • September 25, 2026

    Feds issue call, offer money to women entrepreneurs operating non-profit projects

    As part of the federal government's Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES), Ottawa is inviting proposals for a project called the WES Ecosystem Fund.

  • September 25, 2026

    Co-founder terminations: The importance of good paper signed on incorporation

    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.