Category: Law Blogs

Author: Ruth Roberts This blog is not about law; but it is about what makes a good lawyer and the things we reflect on in the grey hours before morning; and in the spaces in our day when the flotsam of our lives drifts through our minds. This is a blog about our shared humanity. This has been a tough year for our legal community. And just this week comes news of the death of two of my colleagues, lovely

Author: Christopher Fleury When an individual brings a personal injury lawsuit in Ontario, the onus is on them (and their lawyers) to prove their case. In most cases this means that they must prove to the Court that the defendant breached a legal duty that was owed to them, and that the breach of the legal duty caused injury and the incurrence of expenses. The word caused or causation is often overlooked. It is common for an injured victim to

Author: Ruth Roberts One of the most important skills I have as a lawyer – that of listening and being present – I learned from my ophthalmologist. He and his staff unwittingly made me acutely aware of how to create the illusion of unlimited time. Some years ago I needed cataract surgery. Cataract surgery is a high volume business. When I went Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston, I was aware that I was one of many patients my doctor was

Author: Fatema Tokhy One of the toughest questions for some individuals is whether they should hire a lawyer or advocate on their own. Reasons cited for opting to self-represent include unable to afford the legal fees of a lawyer, dissatisfaction with a former/current counsel and/or inaccessibility. Whatever the justification, how does the Court treat self-represented litigants (“SRL”)? Are they crowned as martyrs or do they attract the wrath of the Judges? According to the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (“NSRLP”), 40%

Author: Ryan Alkenbrack As a regular cyclist, a topic that I like to revisit as we approach the end of winter and the start of spring (hopefully sooner than later) is bicycle safety. Common sense tells us that wearing a helmet can significantly reduce the risk of injury or death for bicyclists if they are involved in a crash. Many studies have shown the reality of how significantly helmets reduce the risk of injury to cyclists. In 2018, Alena Høye,

We have all been dealing with COVID-19 for what feels like forever. Here in Ontario we just entered into our second state of emergency. Our frontline doctors, nurses and support staff have worked tirelessly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to not only treat seriously ill coronavirus patients but also to continue providing care for patients affected by non-COVID-19 health conditions. The reality is that as the pandemic continues, the challenges faced by our healthcare professionals are increasing as does the potential