RP Blog

A recent decision of the Licence Appeal Tribunal shows that, if insureds do not comply with insurers’ production requests in a timely manner, they may be barred from receiving statutory accident benefits. In I.A. v. TTC Insurance Company Limited, 2019 ONLAT 18-004128/AABS, attendant care benefits and non-earner benefits were in dispute. The insurerRead More

At an examination for discovery of a corporate party, the deponent does not necessarily need to have personal knowledge of the matters in issue. The key thing is whether the deponent properly informed himself or herself. In Boville v. The York Club, 2019 ONSC 4335, plaintiff’s counsel served a notice ofRead More

In Blake v. Blake, 2019 ONSC 4062, Regional Senior Justice Daley provided a detailed overview of a lawyer’s professional duties to keep up to date on case law and to bring relevant authorities to the court’s attention. Disclosure of Authorities Counsel have a positive duty to make full disclosure of allRead More

By Kevin Adams In Stegenga v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company, the plaintiff brought a court action seeking damages related to the administration of her accident benefits claim based on alleged bad faith, negligence and fraud on the part of her insurer, Economical. The defendant brought a Rule 21 motion toRead More

In Mahood v. Walsh, 2019 ONSC 4312, Justice Heeney declined to order any costs despite finding that the plaintiff “clearly won” the trial. The plaintiff was awarded $72,500 in damages and interest, which was less than the defendants’ offer to settle of $90,000. However, Justice Heeney held that the defendants’Read More

In Kaur v. Janeallam, 2019 ONSC 4249, Master Muir outlined the test to set aside a default judgment, as previously stated by the Court of Appeal in Mountain View Farms Ltd. v. McQueen, 2014 ONCA 194: whether the motion was brought promptly after the defendant learned of the default judgment;Read More

Commercial hosts, such as banquet halls, must take steps to prevent over-service of alcohol and to stop guests from drinking and driving. In Eastwood v. Walton, 2019 ONSC 4019, an insurance company held a staff Christmas party at a banquet hall. Following the party, an employee of the insurance company, Walton,Read More

By Brian Sunohara The case of Brasseur v. York Condominium Corporation No. 50, 2019 ONSC 4043, outlines the respective responsibilities of a condominium corporation and a unit owner. Duty to Maintain and Repair Condominium corporations have a duty to maintain and repair the common elements. On the other hand, theRead More

In Edwards v. McCarthy, 2019 ONSC 3925, Justice Stinson overturned the decision of a Master, in which the Master made the following order in relation to a defendant’s expert report: Production of documents or disclosure of information that demonstrate the instructions on which the expert proceeded Production of documents orRead More

In a closing address in a jury trial, a lawyer is afforded considerable latitude to advance the cause of his or her client fearlessly and with vigour. However, there are important limits. A jury must not be distracted from its task of deciding the case on the evidence, and trialRead More

In Vahle et al v. Global Work & Travel Co. Inc., the court determined that Ontario has jurisdiction over a lawsuit related to an accident that occurred in Thailand. Two sisters from Ontario went to Thailand to teach English. The teaching program was organized by the defendant. While riding a motorRead More

Can a defendant commence a third party claim against a plaintiff’s lawyer for failing to preserve evidence? In most cases, the answer is no, according to the Court of Appeal. In Hengeveld v. The Personal Insurance Company, the plaintiffs sued their insurer for failing to preserve their vehicle following aRead More

Drinking and driving remains a far too frequent occurrence. There can be catastrophic consequences, as shown in the case of Hummel v. Jantzi. Some friends met at a house and consumed alcohol. They then went to a bar to watch a Stanley Cup hockey game. The bar had a specialRead More

The Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal today in a case involving an allegation of civil fraud against a plaintiffs’ personal injury lawyer. The case of Paulus v. Fleury arose out of a car accident. At a pre-trial conference, the plaintiffs’ lawyer made submissions that he had “independent”Read More

In Rocky Heights v. Biber, the court refused to allow a subrogated claim by an insurer of a landlord to proceed against a tenant. The claim arose out of a residential fire. The fire was caused by the tenant leaving a boiling pot of oil unattended. The tenant was anRead More

In Kaplan v. Casino Rama, the court dismissed a certification motion in a class action involving a cyber-attack. Casino Rama’s computer system was hacked, and personal information was stolen relating to customers, employees, and suppliers. The hacker posted the stolen data on the Internet. Just under 11,000 people had some personalRead More

Social media has been a popular way of communicating with others for some time now. However, caution must be exercised when using social media. As a recent court decision shows, legal damages can be very high when defamatory comments are made. In Emeny v. Tomaszewski, the plaintiff and the defendantRead More

In Duggan v. Durham Region Non-Profit Housing Corp., the Divisional Court was split on whether consent of the parties is required to order bifurcation of non-jury trials. Rule 6.1.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure indicates: “with the consent of the parties, the court may order a separate hearing on oneRead More

Lawyers have a professional obligation to not take advantage of other lawyers’ slips or mistakes not going to the merits of a matter. This obligation was at the forefront of the court’s decision in Khoshaba v. Gore Mutual Insurance Company. The applicant applied for statutory accident benefits. The insurer requiredRead More

A fight breaks out at a high school. Can teachers at the school and the school board be held liable? It depends on whether the fight could have been anticipated and on what supervision protocols were in place. In Tilli v. Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, two students started aRead More

The Court of Appeal released a decision today in Drummond v. Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited, dismissing a claim involving a trip and fall on a skateboard in a mall food court. On a summary judgment motion, the mall sought a dismissal of the action. The motion judge did not dismiss the actionRead More

In HMQ v. AIG Insurance, the Province of Ontario was sued in two actions arising from highway construction work. AIG insured a construction company, Aecon. Ontario was an additional insured on the AIG policy. AIG agreed to defend Ontario and to have Ontario’s own counsel represent Ontario. However, AIG insistedRead More

What does builder’s risk insurance cover? That was the question in Pre-Eng Contracting v. Intact. A builder repaired the roof at a school. As a result of negligent work, rain spilled through the roof onto the wooden floor of a gymnasium. The builder had a builder’s risk policy with NorthbridgeRead More

The case of Malik v. Nikbakht indicates that, if an injured plaintiff wants to advance a claim under the Family Law Act, it must be done within the limitation period. Justice Cavanagh overturned a decision of a master.  The master had applied authority of a single judge of the DivisionalRead More

A recent court decision serves as a warning to think hard about bringing a summary judgment motion in multi-party litigation, if the motion will only partly dispose of a claim. In Farooqi v. Lorenzo, a defendant driver sought to be dismissed from an action by way of summary judgment. TheRead More

In Ali v. Smart REIT, the plaintiff tripped on a curb in a shopping plaza and fell on her face. The curb had a slope for barrier-free access. The plaintiff argued that the curb was hazardous because the slope was not gradual and because there was no warning as toRead More