Proving No Negligence: The Reverse Onus in Pedestrian Knock-Downs
Most of my posts grow out of files I’ve worked or rooms I’ve mediated in, and this one is no different. This one came...
House of Cards: What it Takes to Prove Fraud in a Civil Case
I recently mediated a property-damage dispute over a total loss to a high-end luxury vehicle. The insurer’s position?...
The End of the Duel: Joint Experts in Ontario’s Overhaul
This blog is a complement to one I wrote earlier this his summer about Ontario’s expert problem, “The Credibility...
Assault Cases in Personal Injury: Hard Truths on Liability, Insurance, and Recovery
I handled my share of barroom brawl cases back in practice, including one that still sticks with me, involving an...
Driven to Distraction: Evidence, Apportionment & Settlement in Ontario Crashes
I read an alarming article[1] recently reporting that 85% of Canadian commercial drivers experienced a near-miss due...
Text over Intent: Termination Clauses After Bertsch and De Castro
Why These Two Cases Matter Two fresh Court of Appeal decisions draw a hard boundary for Ontario termination clauses in...
Review: Cognitive Psychology in the Courtroom: An Advocate’s Take
Preface: I’m No Psychologist I’m not a psychologist. I’m a litigator-turned-mediator who writes about my experiences...
When the Algorithm Sits at the Table: AI’s Emerging Role in Claims and Mediation
The Quiet Disruption in the Claims World Artificial intelligence has moved beyond novelty and firmly planted itself...
Sports Liability in Canada: Voluntary Assumption of Risk (Volenti) — Beyond the Waiver
While in practice, I acted for a young soccer player intentionally tripped by an opponent, suffering complex leg...
The Law of the Slippery Floor: Fast Food Restaurant Liability in Ontario
This article stems from a recent fast food restaurant slip-and-fall mediation and the practical lessons these kinds of...
The Arc of Canadian Bad Faith Jurisprudence: From Whiten to Baker, and Beyond
In the first half of my career, I practised as defence counsel at a major Bay Street firm, representing insurance...
Proving the Invisible Injury: A Balanced Playbook for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Introduction In a recent mediation, I witnessed a plaintiff’s counsel construct a convincing case for her client...
Seatbelt Defences and Settlement Value: Why a Small Percentage Can Move the Needle
Here’s how the issue often surfaces in discovery, in the clipped cadence of transcripted Q-and-A: Q: Did you hit any...
Driving Uninsured: Can You Sue?
I wrote this after a mediation that turned on a hard truth. The plaintiff sued, and the tort insurer defended on the...
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....