Our provincial legislature, ever conscious of the "woman's vote" has amended the limitations act to eliminate any limitation period for lawsuits alleging sexual assault. Thus, those of you males who went to any base, being 1st, second, third or fourth, anytime in…
From time to time, I get hired to pursue defamation claims. For some reason it seems to happen in London and in Sarnia of all places. Defamation is a broad term, which includes two strands of law, one being slander…
In a criminal trial, it is possible to have a witness testify via video link. The court in Walkerton recently took some time to consider this issue. The Crown put forward some evidence that an important civilian Crown witness lived…
Lawsuits are governed, procedurally, by the "rules of civil procedure." These rules are in large hard bound books, with the accompanying forms in a companion soft cover addition. The reason the books are so large, is that they contain case precedent…
Fixed term employment contracts have become quite popular these days, given the fluidity inherent in the modern labour market. These will often have "termination for just cause" provisions and or damage limitation clauses. Often, however, the courts will find that…
Some of you may wonder what goes on in a first interview in a criminal file. First, many people bring a support person, who is often a parent or spouse. This can cause confidentiality concerns, especially if that support person…
To understand this topic, one must have a general grasp of what the phrase "civil litigation" means. It can mean a legal dispute between two parties, that is not family law, or criminal law. That is not an all encompassing definition, but…
The subject of this column is the very recent Schrenk decision from the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Mr. Shrenk apparently had a head injury some years ago and it made him less likely to bite his tongue- i.e. it…
This sad case involves two of the public's least favourite professionals- dentists and lawyers. Although I try to make clear that my columns are not legal advice and no legal retainer has been created, I am hoping that my comments…
We see this offence quite often in Bruce County' Provincial Offences Court. A decision was just released by Justice Quon on this issue- he is one of the most published of all Ontario's Justices of the Peace. We will…