Dispatches from the Middle
Frontline insights on mediation, reform and resolution Subscribe on Substack
Something’s Gotta Give: Mediation is the Relief Valve Ontario Needs
Ontario’s civil justice system is under pressure, and the province already has a relief valve. It simply hasn’t opened it all the way.
Read the article: Something’s Gotta Give: Mediation is the Relief Valve Ontario Needs-
· 7 min read
Still Waiting For Reform: Is The Promise Of Fundamental Change Beginning To Fade?
Ontario promised a revolution in civil justice. One year later, are we watching that promise quietly unravel?
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· 9 min read
Moving the Goalposts: When the Settlement Position Changes at Mediation
The plaintiff offered to settle for $250,000 six months ago. The offer was not accepted. Everyone arrives at mediation expecting the negotiation to begin…
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· 15 min read
The Long Invoice: What Will This Injury Cost Over a Lifetime?
An injury can stop causing acute medical expenses long before its financial consequences are over. A person may need periodic therapy, medication, replacement equipment,…
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· 8 min read
Separating Causation from Remoteness: Taking Hemmings v Padmore Beyond the Hospital
It is not often that a Supreme Court of Canada decision moves the needle on a basic principle of negligence. Causation is familiar ground,…
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· 7 min read
Causation Is Two Questions: What Hemmings v. Padmore Clarifies About Negligence
The Supreme Court of Canada’s latest negligence decision draws a firm line between asking whether a breach caused an injury and asking whether the…
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· 21 min read
The Duty to Defend: When Must the Insurer Step In?
Liability insurance is often discussed in terms of indemnity. When a lawsuit is commenced, counsel quite properly wants to know whether there is an…
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· 20 min read
The Way We Weren’t: Proving Future Income Loss
A few weeks ago, I wrote about past income loss[1], and the sometimes surprising difficulty of proving what somebody would have earned during a…
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· 13 min read
Line in the Sand: The Rising Cost of the Zero-Offer Defence
Last year, I wrote on Substack about the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Barry v. Anantharajah[1]. The article, The Price of Hardball: ONCA…
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· 8 min read
Opening the Courts: Signals on the Direction of Court Reform
At the Opening of the Courts on September 29[1] this year, the Attorney General and Ontario’s judicial leaders did not unveil a new blueprint…
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· 10 min read
Under Construction: Ontario’s New Civil Justice System
When Ontario’s Civil Rules Review Working Group released its Final Policy Report in December 2025, it was difficult not to be struck by the…
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· 18 min read
Mitigation of Damages: What Happens When the Plaintiff Could Have Done More?
There is a point in many personal injury cases when the focus quietly shifts from what the defendant did to what the plaintiff did…
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· 1 min read
Coming Soon!