Strategically Minded

No one goes into business to get dragged into litigation, but some people go into business to take more than their lawful share. Our lawyers start by understanding your business and the often-complex financial relationships between parties. Whether you are a shareholder of a company, a partner in a partnership, or a creditor, you have specific legal rights defined by agreements and by-laws, not to mention legislation like the Ontario Business Corporations Act or the Ontario Partnerships Act. Speak to our lawyers when a fight is brewing so that you can understand your rights.

Fortunes are made and lost every day on real estate. Some people spend decades paying off their mortgages, while others leverage their real estate to buy even more real estate. Litigation can arise whenever an agreement for purchase and sale falls through, or whenever a friendly co-ownership deal becomes hostile. Our lawyers have experience obtaining court orders for partition and sale, which is a remedy for clients who want the property sold and their fair share paid out. Our lawyers also have experience obtaining orders for occupation rent, vesting orders and specific performance of agreements.

Everyone relies on the advice of professionals. You pay good money for advice you can trust. If you have an accountant or a lawyer who has let you down, speak to one of our lawyers to understand your options. If the professional advice you received fell below the standard of care and you suffered a financial loss as a result, you might have legal recourse against your advisor. It is important to have strong legal representation in such cases because professionals are almost always defended by their insurance companies.

We understand that your reputation is your most valuable asset, but also your most vulnerable. With today’s technology, it is easy for a disgruntled employee or a bitter ex-spouse to spread vicious lies about you to millions of people on-line, anonymously. Our lawyers enjoy defamation law for all its subtleties. Minor nuances in language can turn a wicked lie into a fair comment, or give a simple truth a defamatory innuendo. Speak with us if your reputation is on the line, or your words are being put to the test.

When dealing with fraudsters, the only answer is to sue quickly and aggressively. Fraudsters are adept at hiding money, destroying evidence and persuading witnesses not to get involved. Though some cases may be better framed as misrepresentation, repudiation of an oral contract, civil conspiracy or breach of trust, the approach is the same. We act for plaintiffs suing in civil fraud and the related torts. We also act for defendants fending off bogus claims that do untold damage to their personal and professional reputations. Regardless of what side you are on, fraud claims need to be litigated hard.

People with no training in the law understand the idea of ill-gotten gains that ought to be returned. In law, there is a doctrine called unjust enrichment, which is both very complicated and very simple. In the simple version, the person who was unjustly enriched must give the asset back to the person who suffered the deprivation, as long as there is no legally justifiable reason to keep it. Our lawyers have experience litigating complex unjust enrichment claims involving not just money and real estate, but the value of services, investment gains, rent and other ill-gotten benefits. Courts have applied this type of claim broadly and will use it to prevent all manner of injustices, which is what makes it so interesting for litigators like us.

People often choose to hold assets for others, unofficially and without paperwork. Sometimes the idea is to protect the asset from creditors, hide it from a spouse, avoid taxes, simplify business accounting, qualify for a better mortgage, take advantage of a first-time home buyer incentive, follow cultural orms, or just make someone happy. But what happens when the person holding the asset (the “legal owner”) claims to be the true owner (what lawyers call the “beneficial owner”)? The beneficial owner can bring a court proceeding for a declaration that the asset is being held in a trust. Our lawyers have experience litigating on both sides of these fascinating disputes about what was really going on beneath the legal niceties.

Restitution is a complex area of law designed to restore property to its rightful owners. Lawyers use special terms like unjust enrichment, disgorgement, quantum meruit, proprietary estoppel or constructive trust, but the words matter less than the results. A successful restitutionary claim could give you money for caregiving or property management services, a share of the business you helped build, a home purchased in someone else’s name or an asset that was promised to you. Our lawyers enjoy arguing these cases, either for or against, because the facts and law are always multifaceted.

Many Canadians have joint accounts or hold real estate in joint tenancy. In some cases, this is to avoid probate taxes, in others it is to help an elderly parent to pay their bills. Unfortunately, these arrangements often lead to litigation when the co-owner dies or becomes incapable. Who contributed what money to each asset? What was the intention regarding eventual ownership? Cases like these are always highly fact-specific and require lawyers who understand not just the law, but also how to manage litigation where the records are spotty and the agreements are unwritten.

We assist employers and employees with difficult situations at work.

Companies are free to hire and fire employees for a number of reasons, as long as they do not discriminate against their employees. Yet, employees are entitled to proper notice or pay in lieu of that notice. More often than not, employees are entitled to reasonable notice that is far more pay than their entitlement to minimum notice under the province’s employment legislation.

We represent employers and employees in wrongful dismissal matters both inside and outside of the courtroom.

The Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”) provides protection for employees from harassment or violence on the basis of enumerated grounds. Employers are forbidden from engaging in or allowing discrimination in the workplace. Employers may not terminate an employee based on one of the protected grounds in the Code. Human rights legislation and employment equity legislation also impose several duties on employers to maintain policies with respect to harassment and violence in the workplace.

We advise employers on how to navigate their responsibilities. When a human rights claim is made, we represent our clients before the Court or the Human Rights Tribunal.

Mediation is a way to resolve legal disputes without going to trial. The parties attend with their lawyers in separate rooms or virtual rooms at a neutral location. Over the course of a day (or days), an impartial mediator meets with each side multiple times, carrying offers and counteroffers, in an effort to broker settlement. Our lawyers understand that mediation involves both the science of risk management and the art of negotiation. No client should proceed to trial without considering settlement; but no client should enter a settlement without considering a trial.

Trials are a better way to achieve justice than pistols at dawn … but still far from perfect. At trial, an impartial judge, who knows nothing about the personalities of the people involved, the family dynamics or whom to trust, is tasked with deciding the case. Trials are about proof, not truth – and unlike in our favourite courtroom dramas, proof needs to be slowly, painstakingly extracted, explained and catalogued. When done properly, trials are a culmination of months of work by lawyers researching the latest case law, planning meticulous cross-examinations and prepping their clients, among other tasks. A massive undertaking, trials are also a huge risk. One bad day in the witness box can spell catastrophe for a client, and the loser at trial is often ordered to pay the legal costs of the other side. If trial is where you’re headed, hire lawyers you can trust.

An appeal is not a second kick at the can. While some parties vow that they will “go three rounds” or “fight this one to the top,” these expressions stem from a misconception. An appeal gives a disappointed litigant the privilege of having a higher court review the written reasons of the lower-court judge for major errors of law and/or fact. The judges hearing the appeal will not see the witnesses testify; at most they will read the trial transcripts. This means, among other things, that your written materials on an appeal need to be excellent. If you need to appeal, hire a lawyer immediately because there are extremely tight deadlines.