Mediation Re-engineered: Where Mandatory Mediation Fits in Ontario’s New Civil Justice System
One of the most consequential and quietly transformative aspects of the Civil Rules Review Working Group’s Final...
Ontario’s Civil Rules Review: A New Blueprint for Civil Justice
Ontario’s system of civil procedure stands at a crossroads. After decades of incremental amendments to the Rules of...
Social Host Liability: Turn Up the Lights, the Party’s Over
With the Christmas season approaching and holiday parties taking place all over the city, my mind recently turned back...
Sitting In the Circle: Reflections on Indigenous Mediation and the Space Between Legal Systems
A little-known fact about me is that I am of Indigenous ancestry and was among the Founding Members of the Qalipu...
The End of the Road: The Evolution of Summary Judgement in Ontario
Introduction What prompted me to write this piece on the evolution of summary judgment in Ontario was the recent Court...
Turning Point: Ontario’s Civil Rules Overhaul
It’s happening. Ontario’s civil justice system is approaching a turning point. I have been blogging about this moment...
Pulling the Strings: Proving Undue Influence in Canadian Estate Litigation
Introduction: Why Undue Influence Is So Hard To Prove Every estate litigator knows the script. An elderly parent...
BLOG SERIES: Special Considerations In… Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycle cases are not just car cases with fewer wheels. The physics are different, the injuries are different, the...
Review: Looking Into an Advocacy Mirror: The Parallels Between Tribunals and Courts
Chapter 7 of Justice Todd L. Archibald’s book “Litigation and Administrative Advocacy: The Art and Science of...
Collateral Benefits Deductibility: The Hidden Math of Compensation
I see the issue of collateral benefits entitlement and deductibility in almost every mediation we handle these days....
The Subrogation Maze: Who Recovers What, When and How in Ontario Auto Claims
In my early years of practice as defence counsel, I was a designated hitter for subrogation opinions in loss transfer...
Ready, Set, Go: A Limitations Playbook for Car Accidents
Over the years, I’ve seen it from both sides and the middle of the table, as counsel and now as mediator. It’s the...
The $200K Balancing Act: A Primer in Simplified Procedure
The History of Simplified Procedure in Ontario The concept of the simplified-procedure track under Rule 76 of the...
Courtroom Gamble: Is a Jury Worth the Risk in Personal Injury Claims?
This blog is a complement to a Substack I wrote last summer “The Jury’s Still In: But for How Long in Ontario?” [1] . ...
Defending a Reasonable Decision to Wait: When an Executor Holds Real Property for a Better Market
Introduction: The real question in these fights Beneficiaries often want distribution now. A prudent estate trustee...
Review: The Reliable Narrator: Advocating with Persuasive Authority
As anyone who reads my posts on LinkedIN[1] and my Substack newsletter Dispatches From the Middle[2] knows, I have in...
Causation in Personal Injury: Legal Limits on Linking Accident to Injury
Why Causation is the Fight You Can’t Avoid In virtually every serious personal-injury mediation we do, causation sits...
Who Guards the Estate? When Courts Step In and Appoint an ETDL
The appointment of an Estate Trustee During Litigation (ETDL) is the Court’s way of stabilizing an estate while the...
Proving the Negative: Uninsured, Underinsured & Unidentified Motorist Coverage (Part II)
Part II — Underinsured Motorist Coverage (OPCF 44R) Introduction Uninsured motorist coverage is statutory....
LOCA Motive Express: Proving Loss of Competitive Advantage After a Car Crash
What “LOCA” Actually Compensates and What It Doesn’t In the aftermath of a motor vehicle collision, victims often...