Ontario Court of Justice Determines that Ontario’s Family Law Legislation Discriminates Against Dependent Adults With Disabilities Whose Parents Were Never Married

On July 7 2017, Justice Sullivan of the Ontario Court of Justice released a decision that pertains to the constitutionality of Ontario’s Family Law Act in relation to child support obligations for parents of dependent adults with disabilities. The Applicant in this matter is a Robyn Coates, mother to Joshua Coates. Joshua turned 18 in 2012, but is unable to live independently from his mother as he was born with a rare genetic composition. The Read more…

Scottish Law Commission Publishes Discussion Paper on Remedies for Breach of Contract

The Scottish Law Commission announced earlier this week in a News Release that their Discussion Paper on Remedies for Breach of Contract has now been published. The Discussion Paper is part of a general review of Scots contract law. The News Release suggests that the Discussion Paper considers the tools available to parties when a contract situation goes awry, and how these tools compare to others within the European Union. Further, the Discussion Paper examines Read more…

A closer look at the Report on Complex Stratas—should strata corporations be allowed to allocate expenses paid for out of the contingency reserve fund to types?

This post is the second in a three-part series highlighting key recommendations in the Report on Complex Stratas (PDF). For other entries in the series, click here. Currently the Strata Property Act and the Strata Property Regulation only allow strata corporations to designate types of strata lots for the purpose of dealing with cost sharing relating to expenses paid for out of the operating fund. Some commentators have suggested that giving types a broader purpose Read more…

The Law Society of Upper Canada Releases Report with Proposed Amendments to the Rules on Contingency Fee Agreements

On June 29, 2017, the Law Society of Upper Canada (“LSUC”) released its Professional Regulation Committee Report to Convocation, which contains the interim report of The Advertising & Fee Arrangements Issues Working Group (“Working Group”) on proposed amendments to Ontario’s contingency fee system.  The topic of how contingency fee agreements function as a model to finance litigation is of interest to the BCLI’s ongoing Financing Litigation Legal Research Project. Background of the Project In February Read more…

Strata Property Law Project’s fourth year marked by publication of Report on Complex Stratas

Today is the fourth anniversary of BCLI’s Strata Property Law Project—Phase Two. Highlights of the project’s fourth year include completing work on complex stratas and making progress on selected governance, common property, and land-title issues. Completion of work on complex stratas The highlight of the year was the publication of the project’s second report, the Report on Complex Stratas (PDF). In addition to containing a wealth of information on the current law, the report sets out Read more…