The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Hryniak v. Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7, is an important one for civil litigators throughout the country. The case was about changes to the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure on the use of summary judgment, however, the Court took the opportunity to discuss the values that underlie...
Case Studies
Heather’s Case: Appeals, Civil Litigation, Personal Injury and Rules of Civil Procedure
Background: Heather suffered serious medical problems from mould and other toxins present in Government owned housing in which she resided in the 1980’s. She hired a law firm to represent her in the proceeding. Unfortunately, they failed to take action within the limitation period for doing so, with the result that Heather had to seek...
A Sentence for Fraud
On August 5, 2009, entertainment moguls Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb were sentenced to seven years and six years respectively for fraud in relation to their conduct of the business of Livent Corporation. The trial judge, Madam Justice Benotto of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found them guilty of numerous manipulations of the accounting...
An Adult Sentence
The Youth known as M.T., who can now be identified as Melissa Todorovic, was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for her role in the callous murder of 14 year old Stefanie Rengel. The case was noteworthy for the instant messages introduced into evidence which demonstrated Todorovic’s complicity in directing her boyfriend to commit the...
Beware of Facebook
It is a fundamental aspect of our civil justice system that parties to a lawsuit are required to make available to their opponent any relevant document relating to the matters in issue in the action. It does not matter if the document helps or hurts the cause, it must be produced. Lawyers, and particularly insurance...