Greed IS Good
… sometimes. For some lawyers, anyway. EG's clients lost completely. They didn't have much on their side apart from EG. Assuming (for argument's sake) the cab rank rule applies in Canada, a strict...
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Mexico Is Where?
What's VERY wrong with with picture (except perhaps in some US politicians dreams) and how did it get by the editor(s)? http://tinyurl.com/cwsq68n The related NY Times article is here or at the short...
View ArticleAntrim Truck Centre Ltd. v. Ontario (Transportation) 2013 SCC 13
Some of you might be interested in recent comments of Professor Jason Neyers (of the University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law), which I repeat with permission, on the Supreme Court of Canada's...
View ArticleR. v. TELUS Communications Co., 2013 SCC 16
I'll leave the substantive comments on the validity and merits of the decision to those with the expertise. I'll say only that I suspect the Harperite law & order types involved in the appointment...
View Article1654776 Ontario Limited v. Stewart, 2013 ONCA 184: You've Been Warned
Mr or Ms Executive, in the ONCA's reasons for judgment released today, to keep your mouth shut about the state of confidential negotiations. Here's a link to the reasons on the ONCA and some excerpts....
View ArticleAnnouncing the "deClawedbies"
I'm pleased to announce the creation of the deClawedbies - the Canadian law blog version of the "igNobles" – to be awarded annually on April 1 before noon (PST*). Notwithstanding the Canadian Charter...
View ArticleBad Form: The Globe and Mail Fires an Anonymous 21-Gun Salute
but aims it at Justice Karakatsanis of the Supreme Court of Canada. The editorial, published April 3, 2013, is here. It has the title "A Supreme Court justice struggles to make an impact". As one might...
View ArticleJudicial Copying in Reasons for Judgment Isn't Wrong of Itself
In fact, it's necessary for the efficient functioning of the legal system. Merits and appearances matter. Cojocaru British Columbia Women’s Hospital and Health Centre, 2013 SCC 30 [CanLII link here],...
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Zombies, Vampires, Pecking Orders and Factual Causation in Tort
You'll have to skip to about 3/4 of the way through this piece to find out why the title of this piece is what it is. Once upon a time, but not so long ago, Canadian tort law contained a test for proof...
View ArticleSnarks and Boojums
One of the perqs (?) of writing for traditional, paper, law journals is the author's offprint. One of the problems of writing for those journals is what to do with most of those offprints if one wants...
View ArticleA Koan for Clements
The Riddle: Q: How many Canadian judges does it take to create a paradox? A: 9 Supreme Court of Canada judges paying insufficient attention to the inconsistent text of their reasons for judgment and 1...
View ArticleStatistics: The Point Is?
Mark Twain wrote in his autobiograhy: Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and...
View ArticleClass Actions Law, & Morality : Madam Justice Wears a Blindfold Over Her Eyes
Not a clamp on her nose. Or, you can't always get what you want, especially if the judge doesn't agree that's what you need. Kidd v. Canada Life Assurance Co., 115 O.R. (3d) 256, 2013 ONSC 1868 per...
View ArticleCorporate Capital Punishment in Ontario
with the Ontario Court of Appeal playing the role of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland. See R. v. Metron Construction Corporation, 2013 ONCA 541. A fine which bankrupts a corporation is the...
View ArticleOn Ronald Coase
the (proclaimed by others) progenitor of the law and economics movement. http://www.worldeconomicsassociation.org/newsletterarticles/ronald-coase-1910-2013-by-david-westbrook The appeal of the Coase...
View ArticleWho Is to Be Master? Or, L'État C'est Moi!
Once upon a time, Humpty Dumpty reminded Alice, in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass: "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone. "It means just what I choose it to mean...
View ArticleAppellate Lawyers Take Heed
Sattva Capital Corp. v. Creston Moly Corp, 2014 SCC 53 will change existing practice (necessarily outside of Quebec civil law cases: I leave the effect on civil law to others) where the central...
View ArticleThe Tragedy of Medical Negligence
Current and “wannabe” litigators practising (or hoping to practise) in the medical negligence area would do well to read, and consider, what happened, and why, in the just released Briante v. Vancouver...
View ArticleJurisprudential Aether, Something in the Water, or Something in the Air?
When the Supreme Court of Canada says “X” in 2007, and repeats “X” in 2011 adding explicitly that “X does not mean Y but means Z”, it is reasonable to assume (is it not?) that, once word of what was...
View ArticleSlow Aether in Ontario, Too
This being Friday the 13th, my alternative post-title was the name of the song you’ll find here and here; on the other hand, I am allergic to most cats, black or otherwise. What does that have to do...
View ArticleJudicial Lineups and “Festivus” Presents
I’ve been sitting on this one to see what Santa might have in store for M.M (M.M. v. United States of America, 2015 SCC 62.) As I expected, and I assume others did, too, the Liberal gov’t has decided...
View ArticleTrumped, for Now
It’s small, in light of his other issues, but Donald Trump is once again embroiled in litigation, albeit outside of the United States, which may result in findings against him of at least negligent...
View ArticleUpdate: Brexit Score – End of Second Period: Henry VIII 2 Henry II 1
Or, Ms May may not and must not; at least, not yet. (For readers outside of the (ice) hockey world, substitute “end of first half”.) The UK QB ruled unanimously (3-0) this fine English morning that the...
View ArticleCounsels’ Duty to the Court and Role in the Proper Administration of Justice
Two recent SCJ decisions are, in my view, examples of counsel failing in different aspects of their duty to the court and, as such impeding, or at least not assisting, the judge in the proper...
View ArticleOnce Up a Time, in Another Land
For those of you enjoying your well-earned holiday vacation. March 1601 wasn’t that long ago, from the sequoias and redwoods perspective; even some oaks. From “The Workhouse: The Story of an...
View ArticleThe Thrill Is Gone: Sardonicism ‘R Us, Part Un
This post contains some parting, case-specific, comments on Canadian common law judicial reasoning for interested Canadian lawyers (or those interested for other reasons) to ponder, related to a few...
View ArticleA Response Based on Alice Woolley’s Important “Defending Rapists”
Dear Alice, I suspect I’m going to regret breaking yet another of my New Year Resolutions so soon in the year but, since none of your CALE colleagues seem inclined to discuss this topic with you, here,...
View ArticleSomeday We’ll Find It, the Rainbow Connection
The quotation below contains the first paragraph and part of the conclusion of an article with the title of this post. You will find that article on the University of Alberta Faculty of Law Blog, here....
View ArticleA Rhetorical Question for Canadian Appellate Counsel
If you were appearing before your jurisdiction’s Court of Appeal and: you didn’t mention one of the Court’s own decisions decided within the year, deciding one of the central issues in the case you...
View ArticleCheifetz, Apportionment of Fault (1981) – PDF Available
Apportionment of Fault In Tort (1981) – David Cheifetz An unrestricted PDF of Cheifetz, Apportionment of Fault in Tort is now available. The text has been out of print for about 2 decades.The “price”,...
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