Dispatches from the Middle
Frontline insights on mediation, reform and resolution
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· 5 min read
"Wholesale Reform, Not Tinkering”: Chief Justice Morawetz on Ontario’s Civil Rules Overhaul
Ontario’s Opening of the Courts today brought clarity—and urgency—on where civil-rules reform stands. Chief Justice Geoffrey B. Morawetz’s message was blunt. The four-decade drift…
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· 5 min read
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.
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· 5 min read
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 crash was staged. That file—and…
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· 6 min read
The End of the Duel: Joint Experts in Ontario’s Overhaul
This blog is a complement to one I wrote earlier this summer about Ontario’s expert problem, “The Credibility Crisis: Rebuilding Trust in Expert Evidence…
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· 6 min read
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 after-hours club, licensed and…
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· 8 min read
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 to distraction in the last year, higher…
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· 4 min read
Text Over Intent: Termination Clauses After Bertsch and De Castro
Why These Two Cases Matter
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· 6 min read
REVIEW: Cognitive Psychology in the Courtroom: An Advocate’s Take
Preface: I’m No Psychologist
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· 7 min read
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 fractures that ended his career. The…
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· 6 min read
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 cases have taught me.
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· 6 min read
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 companies in a wide…
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· 9 min read
Proving the Invisible Injury: A Balanced Playbook for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Introduction