Legal Blog:

OBA and OJEN’s Law Day

I had the honour of judging the Law Day Peel Mock Trial Tournament finals held at Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School on April 24th . The top two schools competed in a neck-and-neck race with Cawthra Park Secondary School  as defence and Chinguacousy Secondary School as crown in the day’s final mock trial.

Both schools did a great job and it was clear to me that they grasped the overarching legal concepts and court room procedures. Cawthra Park edged out Chinguacousy because they had a bit more court-room flare and were better prepared. My guess is that a few of the legal team members are also dramatic arts majors at Cawthra Park.

On a personal note, being back at my alma mater, Graydon, on the eve of my 30th birthday made me wistful beyond words. Special thanks to  Ontario Justice Education Network and the OBA.

Written by Molly C. Luu Molly Luu is an advocate whose practice focuses on commercial litigation. She has experience representing clients involved in disputes relating to contracts, insolvency and bankruptcy, and construction matters.

SNF Welcomes Timothy Morgan!

SNF LLP is thrilled to announce that Timothy Morgan has joined our team.

Tim spent the beginning of his career at a major downtown firm, working on some of the largest cases in Canada. Prior to joining Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, he practiced at a litigation boutique in downtown Toronto and learned the more practical realities of how to achieve success for his clients. Tim combines the best of both a big and small firm – he has the academic pedigree required at a Bay Street firm and the practical experience of a lawyer who has actually run and litigated his own cases.

A Lifetime of Leadership: Career Phases & Stages

Speigel Nichols Fox LLP was honoured to co-sponsor, together with BDC, the SOLD OUT Women’s Leadership Forum  event: A Lifetime of Leadership: Career Phases & Stages .

The panel included Bonnie Crombie – mayor of Mississauga,  The Honourable Justice Speigel of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, and Teawna Pinard of Women Leading Legendary Lives; the keynote was speaker Connie Clerici of Closing the Gap Healthcare Group. The guest of honour was former Mayor Hazel McCallion. The powerful and successful women drew in the audience with their stories of obstacles, perseverance, and success with compelling candour.

Experts

Westerhof v. Gee Estate, 2015 ONCA

Rule 53.03 applies to situations in which experts are being retained by a party for purposes of the litigation. The Rule does not apply to a participant expert.

A participant expert

i)          has special expertise and is giving an opinion based on the witness’ observation of or participation in the events at issue; and

ii)         formed the opinion as part of the ordinary exercise of the witness’s skill, knowledge, training and expertise while observing or participating in the events.

 A treating physician is an example of a participant expert. That physician has formed an opinion of the issue not because the physician was asked by a party to testify, but because the physician had already documented the opinion in notes or summaries while treating a party.

The Rule also does not apply to the opinion of a non-party expert. A non-party expert forms an opinion based on personal observations or examinations relating to the subject matter of the litigation, but for purposes other than the litigation. A physician retained by an insurer not involved in the litigation (e.g. a statutory accident benefits insurer) is an example of a non-party expert

a John Hancock and lifting the corp veil

One would think that a signatory to a contract is bound upon signing. Unfortunately, it is not always that simple.

Did the person sign above or below the signature line? Did the person sign as a representative of a corporation? If there are two places to sign, once in a representative capacity and once in an individual capacity and the person signed only once, for whom did the person sign? Two recent cases shed some light on the issue: Proulx v. Canadian Cove Inc. 2014 ONSC 3493 (Ont SCJ) and H.S.C. Aggregates Ltd v. McCallum, 2014 ONSC 6214 (Ont SCJ).

Proulx

A dealer and a boat owner (the “buyer”) entered into a contract whereby the buyer would purchase a very fancy boat from the dealer for cash and his existing boat. Before completion, the dealer decided that there was no binding contract and then re-sold the fancy boat for a higher price than the contract price.