Ottawa Blog Roll: December 2015

You can find below links to blog posts or articles authored by the Ottawa legal community in the first half of December.

Civil Litigation

Contractor/Sub-Contractor Entitlement to Payment for “Extras”
– Owen Bourns, Ottawa Litigation

Can a pedestrian be liable for being injured in an auto accident?
– Frank Van Dyke, Van Dyke Injury Law Blog

Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyers Discuss Host Liability
– David’s Hollingsworth, Ottawa Injury

Social Host Liability: How to Avoid the Naughty List and Ensure Guests Arrive Alive
– Najma Rashid, Ontario Trial Lawyers Association Blog

Court Rules Title Insurance Must Cover Cost After Support Wall Found Missing
– Michael Abrams, StartUp.Buildup.Sellup.

Personal Guarantees
– Caitlin Cardill, Merovitz Potechin

Criminal Law

Zeroing in on Ontario’s New Law: Law, Order, Criminal Records and Reintegrating Into One’s Community
– Reem Zaia, Codified

Employment & Labour Law

“Benefits”: The Most Important Word in Ontario Employment Law
– Sean Bawden, Labour Pains

Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law – 2015
– Sean Bawden, Labour Pains

Being Objectionable at Work: Management Liability for Failure to Investigate Anti-Gay Statements
– Craig J. Stehr, Labour of Law Continue reading

Compendium of Damages Awarded in Personal Injury Actions Across Ontario, Updated to Oct. 2015

Every year a team under The Honourable Justice Chadwick publishes a table of damage awards in personal injury actions across Ontario. We are pleased to provide this year’s copy of the compendium, updated to October 31, 2015. You can download the compendium here, or on the CCLA website’s Civil Litigation Practice Portal.

Many thanks to Justice Chadwick and Gwendolen Boyle, law student at the university of Ottawa, for compiling the updated list!

Recently Published Ottawa Decisions

Find below recently published Ottawa decisions, available for free through CanLII.org.

Family Matters

Kathryn Henderson v Jesse Gordon Floyd Davis (2015 ONSC 7347)
best interests — parent — evidence — child — status quo
Justice M. Charbonneau

Bakmazian v Iskedjian (2015 ONSC 7493)
spousal support — disclosure — income — piano — financial
Justice R. Laliberte

Scherr v Scherr (2015 ONSC 7438)
pay child support for terminated — full-time attendance at school — obligation of the to pay — income — children of the marriage
Justice S. Kershman

Valoris c. ST-A., V. P., J.B., C.N. et A. ST-A. (2015 ONCS 7202)
jumelles — mère — père biologique — fractures — plan
Juge M. Charbonneau

Damien Stéphane Lavigne and Danika-Lee Lavigne (by their Litigation Guardian, Stéphane Lavigne v. Marc-André Labelle (2015 ONSC 7322)
deceased — estate — house — survivor benefits — children
Justice M. Charbonneau

Civil Matters

Tzaferis v Multicast Networks Holdings Inc. et al. (2015 ONSC 7595)
loan — testify — basis of unjust enrichment — adverse inference was drawn — corporate
Justice P. Smith

Guergis v Hamilton (2015 ONSC 7640)
parliamentary privilege — non-justiciable — reason to doubt the correctness — motion for leave — caucus
Justice B. Warkentin

The Bank of Nova Scotia v Lavoie (2015 ONSC 7483)
motion — emailed — interest at the rate — costs — heard
Justice L. Sheard

National Council of Canadian Muslims v Harper (2015 ONSC 7185)
defamatory — simplified procedure — terrorist — amended statement of defence — discovery
Justice L. Sheard

Plummer v Plummer (2015 ONSC 7434)
motion — indemnity fees — hours — directions — capacity
Justice S. Corthorn

Perkins-Aboagye v Becker (2015 ONSC 7366)
severally — jointly — personally — proceedings — vexatious
Justice R. Beaudoin

Arsenault v Thevathurai (2015 ONSC 7419)
costs on a substantial indemnity — fee — binding — motion — deadline
Justice S. Corthorn

Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani v Anmar Energy Ltd. (2015 ONSC 7387)
reason to doubt the correctness — motion — leave — contract — conflicting
Justice P. Smith

Criminal Matters

R. v Sacca (2015 ONSC 7323)
alcohol — breath — ambulance — probable grounds — transient
Justice C.McKinnon

Attorney General of Ontario v $44,425 in Canadian currency (in rem) (2015 ONSC 7382)
money — instrument of unlawful activity — cocaine — camping trailer — currency
Justice R. Laliberte

Divisional Court Decisions from Ottawa Judges

Via Rail Canada Inc. v MCAP (2015 ONSC 7459)
value — passenger rail — railway — hypothetical market — intercity
Justice B. Warkentin

Waye v Cook (2015 ONSC 7151)
spousal support — income — retroactive — separation — employment
Justices K. Swinton, V.J. Mackinnon, and D. Corbett

United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry v PCL Constructors Canada Inc. (2015 ONSC 7369)
non-union contractor — collective agreement — damages — remedy — work
Justices K. Swinton, D. Corbett, T. Ray

Cottle v Atkinson Housing Co-operative Inc. (2015 ONSC 7320)
member of the co-operative — arrears — eviction — money orders — rent
Justices A. Molloy, D. Corbett, T. Ray

Court of Appeal Decisions of Local Interest

R. v. Ahmed (2015 ONCA 848)
robbery — plastic bag — two-stage approach for appellate review — perpetrator — evidence
Justices J. Simmons, K. van Rensburg, and M. Benotto

R. v. Manship (2015 ONCA 837)
victims — assault — sentence — offences — police
Justices K. Feldman, E. Gillese, and D. Watt

Abdollahpour v. Banifatemi (2015 ONCA 834)
dowry — gift — interest in the property — marriage — transfer
Justices E. Gillese, R. Blair, and D. Brown

Recently Published Ottawa Decisions

Find below recently published Ottawa decisions, available for free through CanLII.org.

Family Matters

Martinuk v Graham (2015 ONSC 6769)
father — child support — calendar — retroactive — expenses
Justice P. Kane

Andre v Van Gentevoort (2015 ONSC 7038)
motion — retroactive — costs — divided — successful
Justice R. Beaudoin

Neil v Goodwin (2015 ONSC 7058)
supplementary affidavit — endorsement — resubmitted — spousal — reacting
Justice M. Charbonneau

Marie Rollande Lucie Coté v Marcel John Coté (2015 ONSC 6924)
post-secondary education expenses — post-secondary studies — marriage — enrolled — amount
Justice M. Charbonneau

Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa v. M. (2015 ONSC 5971)
children — daycare — access — foster parents — visits
Justice L. Sheard

Rothschild v Sardelis (2015 ONSC 6953)
spousal support — draft separation agreement — costs — offer — lump
Justice J. Mackinnon

Cruise v Cruise (2015 ONSC 6068)
set-off amount — child support — expenses — income — extra-curricular activities
Justice M. Shelston

Van Alstine v Jean-Vezina (2015 ONSC 6961)
make-up visits — children — email — contempt — access
Justice S. Corthorn

Civil Matters

Ottawa MacDonald Cartier International Airport Authority v Madi (2015 ONSC 7036)
picketers — costs — noise — motion — airport
Justice R. Beaudoin

Tierney (Estate) v Brown (2015 ONSC 6949)
estate trustees — fees — motion — costs — disbursements
Justice C. Hackland

Trang v Nguyen, et al. (2015 ONSC 7030)
equitable mortgage — disbursement — costs — evidence — discretion
Justice P. Smith

Nadeau v Caperelli (2015 ONSC 6944)
assignment — promissory — credited to his shareholder loan — assets — affidavit
Justice T. Ray

Steen v Gibsons LLP (2015 ONSC 6786)
offer — indemnity — costs — executor — fees
Justice C. Hackland

Xardo v New Fashion Flooring et al. (2015 ONSC 7018)
costs — offer — indemnity — fixed in the amount — discretion
Justice P. Smith

Larges v Word of Life Church (Ottawa/Hull) (2015 ONSC 6612)
assert — corporation — fiduciary — pastor — parishioners
Justice L. Sheard

Chelli-Greco v Rizk (2015 ONSC 6963)
dentist-patient relationship — dental — treatment — bridge — discovered
Justice C. Hackland

Hession v Black Construction Services Inc. (2015 ONSC 7047)
costs — third — masters — motion — discontinued
Master C. MacLeod

Criminal Matters

R. v Carson (2015 ONSC 7127)
communities — point-of-use water treatment systems — funding — business relating to the government — pilot project
Justice B. Warkentin

R. v Shaver (2015 ONSC 6948)
reasonable suspicion — confidential informant — drugs — entrapment — buy
Justice C. Hackland

R. v Norris (2015 ONSC 6929)
complainants — women — treatment — collusion
Justice C. McKinnon

R. v Montemurro (2015 ONSC 6863)
attempt to obstruct justice — fraud — sentence — presentence — deception
Justice L. Ratushny

Divisional Court Decisions from Ottawa Judges

Li v Hu (2015 ONSC 7144)
changed the locks — vexatious — landlord — around — rent
Justices K. Swinton, J. Mackinnon, and D. L. Corbett

Li v Hu (2015 ONSC 7208)
lawyer — acknowledges — interpreter — likened — plenty
Justices K. Swinton, J. Mackinnon, and D. L. Corbett

The Society of Energy Professionals v Ontario Power Generation Inc. (2015 ONSC 7101)
arbitrator — posting — collective agreement — job classification — reassignments
Justices K. Swinton, J. Mackinnon, and D. L. Corbett

Lum, Konjarski v Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee of the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario (2015 ONSC 7227)
bias — intemperate — public communications — professional — organizations
Justices K. Swinton, J. Mackinnon, and D. L. Corbett

Court of Appeal Decisions of Local Interest

R. v. Butters (2015 ONCA 783)
child pornography — computer — images — search — shop
Justices E. Gillese, D. Watt, and G. Pardu

R. v. Ghadban (2015 ONCA 760)
sentence — imposed — deterrence — fresh evidence — bail pending
Justices R. Sharpe, C. W. Hourigan, and M. Benotto

Recently Published Ottawa Decisions

Find below recently published Ottawa decisions, available for free through CanLII.org.

Family Matters

Martinuk v Graham (2015 ONSC 6769)
father — child support — calendar — retroactive — expenses
Justice P. Kane

Tracy Neil v Lee Goodwin (2015 ONSC 6828)
retroactivity — spousal support — divorce — temporary — child
Justice M. Charbonneau

Daley v Daley (2015 ONSC 6741)
separation — matrimonial home — spousal support — line of credit — financial
Justice B. Warkentin

Hutton v Hutton (2015 ONSC 6698)
income — life insurance — secure the spousal support — separation — calculation
Justice T. Ray

Hutton v Hutton (2015 ONSC 6683)
feelings of self-worth — concentrate — wishes to retrain — exclusive possession — pleading
Justice T. Ray

Daher v Burrowes (2015 ONSC 6636)
father — expenses — child support — retroactive — variation
Justice P. Kane

Civil Matters

Re: Amberwood Productions (Rob the Robot II) Inc. (2015 ONSC 6850)
bankruptcy — creditors — corporation — distributor — debts
Master C. MacLeod

Criminal Matters

R. v Hardy (2015 ONSC 6665)
waiver — affidavit — guilty plea — protected by solicitor client privilege — sexual
Regional Senior Justice J. MacNamara

R. v J.H. (2015 ONSC 6482)
invitation to sexual touching — offences — victim — sexual interference — counts
Justice C. Aitken

Divisional Court Decisions from Ottawa Judges

Bernstein v Health Professions Appeal and Review Board, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and Borg (2015 ONSC 6724)
reasonableness — medical services — clinics bearing his name — advertisements — cautioned
Justices A. Molloy, M. Linhares de Sousa, and H. Wilton-Siegel

Reid v Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (2015 ONSC 6578)
wage loss — assault — report — medical — problems
Justices A. Molloy, P. Hambly, and C. Hackland

Roni Excavating Limited v Sedona Development Group (2015 ONSC 6576)
privity of contract — motion — trust — owners — claimants
Justices A. Molloy, P. Hambly, and C. Hackland

Sauliman et al v Mielczarek (2015 ONSC 6574)
receivership — funding — business — preserve — restaurant
Justices A. Molloy, P. Hambly, and C. Hackland

de Pelham v Peel Regional Police Services (2015 ONSC 6558)
function — complaints regarding privacy breaches — parliamentary — institutions — investigate
Justices A. Molloy, P. Hambly, and C. Hackland

Divisional Court and Court of Appeal Decisions of Local Interest

C.H. Clement v Seguin Racine et al. (2015 ONSC 6833)
fact-finding powers — motions judge determined — evidence — architect — omission
Justices F. Marrocco, C. Herold, and A. Whitten

Hickey v Princ (2015 ONSC 5596)
spousal support — retirement — motion — income — payor
Justices T. Heeney, T. Lofchik, W. Matheson

R. v. Sinasac (2015 ONCA 735)
sentence — pre-sentence custody — imposed — exceeded — multiple
Justices J. Laskin, G. Pardu, and L. Roberts

Holgate v. Sheehan Estate (2015 ONCA 717)
codicil — estate — mid-trial motion — trusts — accumulating wealth
Justices E, Cronk, C. W. Hourigan, and M. Benotto

Newly Received Materials from LSUC CPD

For those who can’t frequently make it to Toronto for CPD sessions, it might interest you to know that we receive copies of the papers from all LSUC, Hamilton, and London programming.

Here are some highlights from the most recent CPD we’ve received; click on the titles to view the full table of contents. If you would like a copy of any of the following articles, feel free to drop by the library to have a look, or email us and we can scan and send it to you.

Practice Gems: Commercial Leasing Essentials 2015 (Sept. 21, 2015)

  • Ground leases and leasebacks : essential difference you need to know / Steven Cygelfarb
  • Leases for metropolitan multi-use developments / Lisa A. Borosook
  • Green leases and green buildings / Michael Brooks

Commercial Mortgage Transactions 2015  (Sept. 17, 2015)

  • 10 typical clauses in landlord waiver : tripartite agreements / Brennan Carroll
  • Tenant estoppel certificates : how and why they are useful to lenders / Syll Kushner
  • How to structure personal and corporate guarantees in mortgage transactions : or how I learned to stop worrying and love the law of guarantees / Doug Bourassa

The Twelve-Minute Civil Litigator 2015 (Sept. 18, 2015)

  • Duty of honesty in contractual performance / Bradley Berg, Mike Maodus
  • 2015 : civil procedure cases of the year / Monique Jilesen
  • Moore v. Getahun : practical questions about expert witness interactions / Paul Pape, Joanna Nairn
  • The illusion of memory and its influence on the decisions jurors make / Robyn Wishart.

Practice Gems: Probate Essentials 2015 (Sept. 10, 2015)

  • Applications for certificates of appointment : more tips and traps / John T. Clark
  • Drafting errors : what to do when there appears to be a problem with the will(s) / Andrea M. Hill & Jordan Diacur
  • Estate Administration Tax Act, 1998 : the new regulation / Jordan M. Atin
  • Valuations and appraisals / Mary-Alice Thompson
  • Illiquid estates and other solvency issues / Jenny Pho

Annotated Partnership Agreement 2015 (September 29, 2015)

 

Recently Published Ottawa Decisions

Find below recently published Ottawa decisions, available for free through CanLII.org.

Family Matters

Bennett v Breuers (2015 ONSC 6540)
undertakings — spousal support — based on unjust enrichment — set aside — delay
Justice R. Laliberte

Morin-Savard v Savard (2015 ONSC 6329)
lawyer — contact — attend — procedural — attended at the matrimonial home
Justice K. Phillips

Lambert v Limoges (2015 ONSC 6487)
father — status quo — partner — best interests of the child — daycare
Justice P. Kane

Smith v Sanftenberg (2015 ONSC 6393)
motion — lawyer — setting aside — uncontested — set
Justice T. Minnema

Civil Matters

Ménard. v Parsons (2015 ONSC 4123)
pre-existing landfill site — property — vendor — purchasers — discontinued landfill site
Justice R. Maranger

Ottawa MacDonald Cartier International Airport Authority v Madi (2015 ONSC 6336)
noise levels — parkade — drumming — picketers — injunction
Justice R. Beaudoin

Schellings v DTE Industries Limited (2015 ONSC 6469)
oil tank — warn — plead — tanks — amendments
Justice P. Roger

Manthorne v Canadian Breast Cancer Network (2015 ONSC 6216)
motion — privilege — documents — costs — bring
Justice R. Beaudoin

Dhawan v Wehbe (2015 ONSC 6104)
mediation — administrative dismissal — set this proceeding — motion — inadvertence
Justice P. Kane

McMurtry v McMurtry (2015 ONSC 6281)
oppression remedy — derivative — pre-trial conference — motion for leave to amend — examinations for discovery
Justice S. Corthorn

Mills v Minto Developments Inc. (2015 ONSC 5753)
offer to settle — costs — favourable — disbursements — substantial indemnity basis
Justice S. Kershman

Boyse v Saxe (2015 ONSC 6381)
structurist — preferred shares — corporations — international — securities
Justice P. Kane

Raji v Downtown Legal Services (2015 ONSC 6391)
sub-rule — vexatious — frivolous — endorsement — mail
Justice R. Beaudoin

Raji v Royal Canadian Mounted Police (2015 ONSC 6392)
sub-rule — vexatious — frivolous — endorsement — mail
Justice R. Beaudoin

1395804 Ontario Limited (Blacklock’s Reporter) v Canadian Vintners Association (2015 CanLII 65885)
copyright — paywall — subscription — punitive damages — dealing
Deputy Judge L. Gilbert

Divisional Court Decisions from Ottawa Judges

Reid v Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (2015 ONSC 6578)
wage loss — assault — report — medical — problems
Justices A. Molloy, P. Hambly and C. Hackland

Roni Excavating Limited v Sedona Development Group (2015 ONSC 6576)
privity of contract — motion — trust — owners — claimants
Justices A. Molloy, P. Hambly and C. Hackland

Sauliman et al v Mielczarek (2015 ONSC 6574)
receivership — funding — business — preserve — restaurant
Justices A. Molloy, P. Hambly and C. Hackland

Court of Appeal Decisions of Local Interest

R. v. Rompre (2015 ONCA 707)
traffic — confirmatory — evidence of the arresting officer — testimony — arose out of a routine
Justices D. Watt, C. W. Hourigan and G. Huscroft

Recently Published Ottawa Decisions

Find below recently published Ottawa decisions, available for free through CanLII.org.

Family Matters

Cameron v Cameron (2015 ONSC 5698)
costs — proceeding — motion — abandoned — settle
Justice P. Smith

Cesare v Myre (2015 ONSC 6074)
costs — successful — hours multiplied by rates — lawyer — litigants
Justice P. Smith

Gibson v Ullrich (2015 ONSC 5979)
children — process server — school — equalization — spousal support
Justice M. Shelston

Civil Matters

Vachon v Canada Revenue Agency (2015 ONSC 6096)
defamation — email — internet — tort of intrusion upon seclusion — complaint
Justice C. Hackland

Small Claims Matters

Shamar Maintenance Inc. v Bank and Cooper Property Ltd. (2015 CanLII 62396)
defence — set aside — second settlement conference — faxes — motion
Deputy Justice P. Lepsoe

Research Tip: American Case Law

American case law is sometimes quite difficult to track down, as most of the time our basic Canadian database subscriptions do not cover other jurisdictions. (That’s why we added British case law database JustisOne to our subscriptions; check out our introductory post if you haven’t had the chance yet!)

So where can we find free access to American Case Law?

1. Google Scholar is always the first place we look. With a clean interface and a large collection of cases from state and federal courts, it’s a fantastic place to start. From the main search screen, select “Case Law” (or articles/patents if you are looking for those), and enter your search terms. Your results page should look quite familiar to you; you can click through to open a case. Note that you can also click on the “How Cited” link at the top to see any articles or cases that refer to it. Often times even if Google Scholar does not have the case you are looking for, it will still contain a reference to the case as well as alternative citations that you can try elsewhere.

googlescholar

2. Findlaw houses a lot of case law as well, as well as commentary and links to the state and district courts. To search for case law, you can enter a party’s name in the “Search for a Case” box, or alternatively, click on “Advanced Search” to enter in any other information you know. (This is where docket numbers can come in handy!) Results will bring you to a summary page, where you can click on the “Read” button to be linked to the full decision, although sometimes this will be behind a paywall.

3. Justia also offers free access to online American case law, as it brings together decisions from the Federal Courts and many of the district courts websites as well. You can search using the bar at the top right, or browse through the different courts below.

4. Casetext is the CanLIIConnects of the United States, as it features case law and added commentary by members of the legal community.

5. If you happen to know at what court the decision was made, you can often head directly to the State or District Court website to browse a database of their own decisions. Often times these are also included in the databases mentioned above.

6. Let us know! We have access to other libraries and their collections as well, so if we can help track down the case(s) you’re looking for, send us an email!