Insurance

  • November 21, 2025

    Ontario’s impaired-driving restitution proposal: Legal and policy challenges ahead

    As reported by Law360 Canada, the Ontario government is exploring a new measure that would require impaired drivers who kill a parent or guardian in a motor vehicle accident to make ongoing financial support payments to the victim’s surviving children. The idea mirrors Bentley’s Law in Texas, enacted in 2023, which mandates long-term restitution — essentially child support — whenever an impaired driver is convicted of what Texas law refers to as “intoxication manslaughter” (the Canadian analogue most closely maps to “Impaired Operation Causing Death” under s. 320.14(3) of the Criminal Code).

  • November 20, 2025

    Canadian law firms integrate with DWF

    Whitelaw Twining, a litigation law firm and Barnescraig & Associates, an insurance claims management and adjusting business, have united with DWF, a global legal and business services firm.

  • November 18, 2025

    Proposed reforms of civil procedure: Refreshing reboot or more of the same?

    I was an articling student and had my work cut out for me. I worked on a client file to prove adverse possession for a right of way across a house that had existed since the 50s but was being enforced by a neighbour. I brought all the files I had researched myself — surveys of the land, blueprints rolled up, ancient texts, photos I took of the property, transcripts of examinations.

  • November 17, 2025

    Appeal court certifies class action on alleged illegal insurance deductible

    The Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal and certified a class action against Aviva General Insurance Company for applying an alleged illegal deductible related to travel for injury treatment.

  • November 17, 2025

    Decision reinforces test to use when looking at liability under Ontario municipal rules, lawyer says

    A cyclist who suffered a life-altering spinal cord injury in a 2019 bicycling accident has had his lawsuit against the City of Hamilton revived by Ontario’s top court, which found a motion judge applied the wrong legal standard in dismissing the case under provincial legislation that allows municipalities to avoid liability for certain accidents.

  • November 12, 2025

    SCC denies requests by AGs & others to make in-person intervener arguments in historic case

    The Supreme Court of Canada is denying recent requests from six intervener attorneys general — as well as counsel for The Advocates’ Society and dozens of other intervener groups — to allow them to make their arguments in person in the upcoming historic Bill 21 appeal, Law360 Canada has learned.

  • November 12, 2025

    Extending the reach of responsibility: Vicarious liability in institutional abuse cases

    The doctrine of vicarious liability can be used to hold one party responsible in law for the wrongful acts of another. Vicarious liability, while not a distinct tort, is a legal theory that can be used in civil sexual assault and battery litigation.

  • November 12, 2025

    P.E.I. seeking input on proposed regulation of combative sports

    Prince Edward Island is looking for feedback on proposed legislation to regulate fighting sports in the province. According to a Nov. 10 news release, the provincial government is seeking the public’s input on laws that would regulate professional and amateur combative sporting events in the areas of boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts.

  • November 11, 2025

    AI dashcams and wearables as evidence in personal injury trials: Privacy meets proof

    In recent years, technology has found its way into almost every corner of daily life, including the courtroom. From AI-powered dashcams to wearable fitness and health devices, digital data is reshaping how personal injury cases are argued and decided in Canada.

  • November 10, 2025

    Judicial vacancies hit 5%, threatening more trial delays and backlogs

    Ottawa is lagging again in filling the country’s federal benches, hitting a five per cent vacancy rate on Nov. 1, 2025 — mostly in the critical trial courts of Ontario, B.C. and Quebec, which are constitutionally obliged to conduct trials within a reasonable time or face the prospect of staying criminal cases.