Certificates of Pending Litigation: An Overview

Introduction Where a legal proceeding seeks to establish an interest in real property, one of the risks for the plaintiff or applicant is that the land will be sold or further encumbered. A possible remedy for that concern is a Certificate of Pending Litigation (CPL) under Rule 42.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure (the […]

Do Courts Have the Discretion to Override Arbitration Clauses?

Contracting parties normally have their remedy for breaches through the court process. However, they may agree in advance to have any differences that arise resolved through mandatory and binding arbitration. Section 7(1) of the Ontario Arbitration Act (the “Act“) allows a party of such an agreement, if the other commences a lawsuit, to apply to […]

Recent Uber Decision Revisits The Use of Arbitration Clauses

With Heller v. Uber Technologies Inc., the Ontario Court of Appeal (ONCA) kicked 2019 off with a decision that will likely have long-lasting implications beyond the parties involved. The case scrutinized an arbitration clause included in all agreements that Uber has with its drivers (who the company also claims are independent contractors, not employees). The ONCA ruled that […]

Pierringer Settlements

In a previous post we discussed the concept of Mary Carter Agreements as one means of effecting a partial settlement in a multi-party civil action. There we observed: Settlements of civil actions, including commercial claims, are both judicially encouraged and desirable. They serve the public interest by unburdening the courts of cases to be tried thereby […]

Time Management Mistrial

A mistrial is a trial that is not successfully completed – meaning that it’s “terminated and declared void before the jury returns a verdict or the judge renders his or her decision in a non-jury trial. The trial is then over and has no legal effect or result. Mistrials are declared most often when there […]

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