Allan Rouben

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 […]

Canadians are justifiably proud of the integrity of their judicial officers. The removal of a Federally appointed Superior Court judge for misconduct is exceedingly rare. There has been only one such instance in Canadian history, dating back to 1967. On December 3, 2008, the Canadian Judicial Council, by a vote of 17-4, decided not to

Trial lawyers are constantly searching for those elusive qualities of clients and witnesses which will capture the attention of the Court and result in favourable treatment by a judge or jury. Opinions on the subject are frequently based on little more than gut reactions. In the recent case of Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto

In an interesting decision, the Court of Appeal for Ontario took the unusual step of overturning an acquittal by a jury on a charge of first degree murder. The decision in R. v. Abbey, 2009 ONCA 624, is noteworthy for the extended analysis by Mr. Justice David Doherty on the scope of expert evidence, in

On July 17, 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada released four decisions on the important  question of the circumstances in which evidence obtained by the police in a manner contrary to the Charter of Rights should be excluded from consideration at trial. Section 24(2) of the Charter states “Where, in proceedings under subsection (1), a

Section 11(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees to any person charged with an offence the right “to be tried within a reasonable time.” What is reasonable is left to the Courts to decide in the circumstances of individual cases. There are guidelines. The Supreme Court of Canada has said that, for less

There is an interesting decision reported in the most recent edition of the Ontario Reports, a weekly journal with important decisions from Ontario Courts. The case involved a conviction for money laundering by a lawyer and an appeal of the conviction and three year sentence. The lawyer, Simon Rosenfeld, was caught red handed when he