News & Publications
Imputing Income in Family Law
Before a lawyer or judge can determine an appropriate amount of support for a person to pay, it is necessary to first determine the support payor’s income. Sometimes this is easy – if you are an employee, with no complicating factors, your income is accurately reflected on line 150 of your income tax return. But what if you’re self-employed, with a large amount of business deductions? What if you sold some property and have a large capital gain? What if you withdrew money from your RRSP? ...
2019 Summer Student Applications
We anticipate hiring up to 6 (2nd Year) summer students in our LONDON office and 1 (2nd Year) summer student for our TORONTO office. Please clearly mark your cover letter as to whether you are applying for our LONDON office or TORONTO office. Please visit the viLawPORTAL for details of submission requirements. Applications are due JANUARY 25, 2019 by 5:oo pm. Interviews will take place at our LONDON office for both the LONDON and TORONTO applicants on FEBRUARY 11, 2019 and FEBRUA...
Remedies of a Commercial Landlord in Ontario
If a tenant defaults on their obligations under a commercial lease, a landlord may wish to pursue a remedy. There are two types of tenant defaults – monetary or non-monetary. The type of default will determine the landlord's available remedies. A monetary default occurs when the tenant fails to pay an amount due to the landlord under the terms of the lease. For example, a monetary default would occur if the tenant failed to pay rent, taxes, utilities, etc. (assuming the lease required these pa...
Mortgagee Remedies in Ontario
When a mortgagor (borrower) defaults on mortgage payments, the mortgagee (lender) has several remedies at its disposal. The most frequently used remedies are a power of sale, an action for judicial sale, and an action for foreclosure. The following is a comparison of the three remedies, highlighting the benefits and disadvantages of each. Following a default, a mortgagee may sell the mortgaged property pursuant to a private power of sale. This remedy allows a mortgagee to force a sale of the ...
Do I Have to Collect HST if I am Just Selling my Vacant Land?
Determining whether or not you have to pay Harmonized Sales Tax ("HST") during a real estate transaction can be a tricky situation. There can be rebates, exceptions and a whole host of factors which come into play. The sale of a vacant lot carries with it its own problems. When Do you Have to Pay the Tax Man? In the following situations the sale of vacant land by an individual will attract HST: The sale of land that is capital property that had been used primarily in a business; Th...
The All Families Are Equal Act
On January 1, 2017 Ontario enacted the All Families Are Equal Act (the “Act”). The legislation amends several existing Acts, including the Children’s Law Reform Act, to establish new rules related to parentage, with the goal to ensure equal treatment for all parents, no matter their sexual orientation, capacity to reproduce or the number of parents in a child’s life. The existing legislation prior to the enactment of the Act failed to address conception through assisted reproductive tec...
Lenders Beware: Not All Charge Terms Are The Same
When a lender, be they a large bank or a private individual, lends money to someone they will, in most cases, require security for that loan. One well-known type of security is the mortgage. A mortgage, otherwise known as a charge, is a lien or encumbrance on the property, giving the lender certain rights over the property if the borrower fails to comply with his or her obligations. Mortgages in Ontario are governed by a couple of different laws, primarily the Mortgages Act, the Land Titles A...
Rooney v ArcelorMittal: the Superior Court confirms the suitability of Oppression Claims for Certification
In Rooney v ArcelorMittal[1], the Plaintiffs sought certification of a proposed shareholder class action arising out of the events leading up to the successful takeover of Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (“BIM”). The key issue in dispute was certification of claims for relief from oppression pursuant to section 248 of Ontario’s Business Corporations Act[2]. Justice Rady, writing for the Superior Court, confirmed that oppression remedy claims were certifiable and certified the Plaintiffs...
Marriott Privacy Breach
Siskinds LLP Announces the Filing of Privacy Breach Class Action against Marriott International, Inc. and Certain of Its Canadian Affiliates Siskinds LLP has filed a proposed privacy breach class proceeding on behalf of Canadian residents whose personal information has been impacted as a result of the recently-disclosed data breach incident. On November 30, 2018, Marriott reported that unauthorized parties have improperly accessed the guest reservation database of Marriott’s Starwood hotel...
How Personal Injury Lawyers Are Paid
People are sometimes reluctant to seek legal advice after being injured. They believe they cannot afford legal fees and expenses, particularly if their injuries have caused them to be off work. Contingency Fees In most cases, however, an injured person who files a lawsuit against a negligent party (a “plaintiff”) does not pay anything up front or out-of-pocket. This is because most personal injury lawyers handle cases on a contingency fee basis. The goal of contingency fees is to provi...