Review: The Trial Advocate as Storyteller: Discipline Over Drama
The opening chapter of Litigation and Administrative Advocacy: The Art and Science of Persuasion—“The Trial Advocate...
Untangling Successive Accidents and Indivisible Injuries: A Practical Guide for Ontario Litigators
Most blogs take me a few hours. Others days or weeks. This one has been brewing for months, as I have struggled to...
Jury Questions, Causation, and Successive Accidents: Lessons from Meldazy v. Nassar (2025 ONCA 590)
The Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Meldazy v. Nassar (2025 ONCA 590)[1] provides a careful look at how trial...
Executor Misconduct or Just Delay? How courts distinguish inefficiency from breach of duty
“This case provides a good argument for leaving one’s testamentary estate to pets or strangers”. J.W. Quinn J....
Retail Surveillance Wars: Spoliation of Video in Slip-and-Falls
Introduction In the past few months I’ve mediated several slip-and-fall cases in department stores and big-box...
The Thin Skull Meets the Crumbling Skull: Mediation Strategies for Chronic-Pain Litigation
Introduction I’ve been reading the words “thin skull” and “crumbling skull” in mediation briefs a lot these days....
Pierringer Agreements in the Wake of Cadieux: Lessons for Counsel and Mediators
At a recent mediation, one defendant proposed a Pierringer agreement (often misspelled “Perringer”) with the plaintiff...
A Primer in CAT Threshold: Where Case Law is Heading in Catastrophic Impairment Designations
When in practice, my team succeeded in achieving catastrophic impairment designations for some of my most seriously...
Private vs. Judicial Mediation: The Complicated Art of Resolution
“I have called you together so we can resolve your indifferences.” Chief Justice Warren Winkler, 2010 I have been...
Revoking Probate in Ontario: Limitation Periods and the Boundaries of Challenge
In Ontario, a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee[1] is not immune from challenge once issued. Beneficiaries...
When Trust Vanishes: Withdrawing as Solicitor of Record in Ontario
Over the course of my years representing individual plaintiffs in personal injury cases, I discovered that the most...
Executor Compensation Battles: Percentages vs. Principles in Estate Disputes
Executor compensation is one of the most common flashpoints in estate cases. For estate litigators, these disputes are...
Poisoned Work Environment: Toxic Workplaces & Mediation
Overview Here’s the straight story, in plain English, on when a “toxic” workplace becomes a poisoned one in law—and...
The MIG Squeeze: Why Minor Injury Guideline Fights Keep Escalating at the LAT
If you’re hurt in a car crash in Ontario, you can claim accident benefits from your own auto insurer—no matter who...
The Price of Hardball: Ontario CA in Barry v. Anantharajah on Costs
On August 29, 2025, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Barry v. Anantharajah, 2025 ONCA 603[1], a...
When Costs Eclipse Damages: A Case Commentary on Barry v. Anantharajah
The decision in Barry v. Anantharajah (2024 ONSC 1267)[1] stands out not because of the modest damages awarded at...
The Winter Maintenance Puzzle: Recent Decisions on Municipal and Contractor Responsibility
Ontario winters are more than a nuisance—they are a legal flashpoint. Each year, slip-and-fall claims on icy...
Civility on Trial: What the Supreme Court’s Groia Decision Really Means for Lawyers
For years in the courtroom, civility was something debated as much as it was practised — a question of how far an...
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: The Legal Fallout of Beauty Salon Mishaps
When I was running my own shop, for years on Staff Appreciation Day, my partner and I would shut down the office, rent...
Read Before You Leap: The Ironclad Waiver
Here’s the straight goods. When I was a practicing personal-injury lawyer, I sometimes had to tell hard truths to...