The Complete Brief
-
December 04, 2025
McLennan Ross to promote 5 lawyers to partner in 2026
Elise Cartier, Michelle Fong, Alex MacDonald, Marco Marrelli and Richard Wong will join McLennan Ross LLP’s partnership in 2026, according to the firm.
-
December 04, 2025
Shauna Towriss joins Dentons as partner in Vancouver real estate group
Dentons has added Shauna Towriss as a partner in its real estate group in Vancouver.
-
December 04, 2025
Case shows that Ontario public bodies will not be able to insulate themselves from scrutiny: lawyer
Ontario’s top court has ruled in favour of a business consortium in its fight with a utility over the building of an electrical substation, saying a lower court was wrong to determine it lacked jurisdiction to consider a decision made by the provincial energy board.
-
December 04, 2025
What to do when counsel is never available for urgent court applications?
One of the recurring frustrations in family law practice is the increasingly common tactic where opposing counsel is mysteriously “unavailable” for any proposed hearing date.
-
December 04, 2025
CFIA cuts red tape, speeds up plant-pest control changes
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has repealed a number of outdated requirements and updated the Plant Protection Regulations to make domestic plant-pest controls more flexible, moves the agency says will reduce red tape.
-
December 04, 2025
Using s. 35 of the Property Law Act to extinguish, modify easements in B.C.
Easements, being one of the most common non-possessory interests in land, are often essential for the proper use and development of a dominant tenement. However, over time, changes in the character of the land, the surrounding neighbourhood or the purpose of the original grant can render an easement obsolete, impractical or economically detrimental to the burdened land (the servient tenement). In British Columbia, if parties do not agree to privately extinguish an easement, the owner of the servient tenement must apply to the court for relief under s. 35 of the Property Law Act.
-
December 04, 2025
Court orders law firm to disclose client’s banking information
Parties may occasionally seek disclosure of information or documents from another party’s lawyer during the course of litigation. In such cases, solicitor-client privilege as well as a general duty of confidentiality must be considered. Lawyers who receive a request for disclosure of privileged information by a non-client will generally require that a court order for disclosure be obtained.
-
December 04, 2025
Ontario Court of Appeal weighs real public risk against public opinion
There is significant public pressure to deny bail after a person is arrested for a criminal offence. It is also reasonable to expect that this pressure could influence a Court of Appeal judge to refuse bail when an application for bail pending appeal is made, especially if the conviction involves a serious offence.
-
December 04, 2025
MORTGAGES - Mortgage agreement - Terms - Mortgagee’s remedies - Foreclosure order - Right to redemption
Appeal by Innovation Federal Credit Union Limited from chambers judge’s decision disallowing property insurance expenses. Innovation entered into a mortgage agreement with the respondents under which Innovation provided loan financing to the respondents who, in turn, granted a mortgage over their property to Innovation to secure repayment of the loan.
-
December 04, 2025
A manually actuated excavation device and other excuses for legal bafflegab
Let’s call a spade a manually actuated excavation device. Why? Well, I can think of at least four reasons.