There are over 17,000 individuals in Toronto who can call themselves a Toronto attorney.  Each Toronto attorney typically has his or her own specialty.  The day of the general practitioner is not as it once was (and is slowly fading away).  In fact, specialization is a preferred strategy to earn above-average returns in any given industry.  Besides, think of how hard it would be for a lawyer who ‘does it all’ to keep up to date with the changing laws in every given legal area.  It’s way too difficult and that’s where negligence cases may arise.

In any event, I thought I’d spend some time discussing the various types of Toronto attorneys that you can come across on a day-to-day basis.  Here’s the first breakdown of types of Toronto attorneys (please keep in mind that this list of the types of lawyers out there is not exhaustive):

• Toronto Real Estate Attorneys: help you buy and sell residential, investment, farm, cottage, recreational, condominium, and cooperative properties.  They also you get a mortgage financing and refinancing as well.

• Toronto Personal Injury Attorneys: help you litigate, settle, or otherwise resolve claims arising from:
  • accident benefits claims
  • dog bites
  • disability claims
  • medical malpractice
  • motor vehicle accidents
  • negligence actions
  • personal injury claims
  • product liability
  • slip and falls

• Toronto Business Attorneys: help you to incorporate and organize, merge/amalgamate, and dissolve your business.  They can help prepare, review, interpret, revise, negotiate, litigate, and resolve the following business documents:
  • shareholder agreement
  • partnership agreement
  • joint venture agreement
  • franchise agreement
  • commercial leases
  • business acquisitions
  • regulatory compliance
  • constructions contracts
  • employment agreements

• Toronto Wills and Estates Attorneys: they offer services from a basic will and powers of attorney  to more complicated tax-planning structures, such as inter-vivos trusts and estates freezes.  They can also help personal representatives in the administration and distribution of estate assets.  Finally, they can litigate on behalf of beneficiaries or the estate trustee on issues such as mental capacity of the testator, validity of a will, etc.

• Toronto Family Attorneys: they can help you with your marriage breakup by drafting a separation agreement.  They can also help you with issues such as divorce, spousal and child support, child custody, possession of the matrimonial home, and the equalization of net family property.
  

• Toronto Criminal Defense Attorneys: they can help represent you against government bodies that have charged you with criminal or provincial offences (e.g. careless driving), including:
  • DUI (driving under the influence)
  • assault
  • sexual assault
  • fraud
  • theft

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Toronto law firms can help answer your legal questions, facilitate your transaction (e.g. business, real estate, wills and estates, family, etc.) or even represent you in court.  To find a Toronto lawyer or law firm, go to Dynamic Lawyers and make a post.  It’s free and anonymous and Toronto lawyers and law firms will respond to you with information and quotes for you to compare.

Here are some of the different types of law that Toronto law firms can assist you in:

• Accidents and Injuries: Involved in an accident where you suffered personal injury?
• Business: Need corporate or commercial agreements? Need to have a lawyer help you do a transaction?
• Charities and Not-For-Profit: Need to establish a Not-For-Profit corporation or obtain charity status?
• Civil Litigation – Higher Court: Have a serious legal claim that needs to be litigated in the Superior Court, Divisional Court, etc.?
• Civil Litigation – Small Claims Court: Have a legal claim (e.g. breach of contract, negligence, etc.) for less than $10,000?
• Constitutional / Human Rights and Freedoms: Challenging a law or government action / inaction?
  Criminal: Charged with a criminal offence? Appealing a conviction?
• Employment and Labour: Need an employment agreement? Unjustly terminated? Need to know your rights?
• Family: Going through a separation or divorce? Fighting to get custody or access? Dealing with spousal and child support?
• Government: Need to lobby the government? Need to resolve a dispute with a government agency?
• Highway Traffic Tickets: Charged with speeding or DUI? Need to fight traffic tickets?
• Immigration: Need to immigrate to Canada? Fighting against deportation?
• Insurance: Having difficulties with your Insurance company?.
• Intellectual Property: Need to register a copyright or trademark? Need help with a patent?
• Landlord and Tenant: Need a resolve a dispute? Need to know your rights?.
• Notary Public / Commissioner: Need to notarize or commission your documents?
• Real Estate: Need someone to facilitate your residential or commercial purchase, sale, or lease?
• Tax: Need help structuring your tax affairs? Need help resolving tax disputes with the Canada Revenue Agency?
• Wills, Estates and Trusts: Need a will? Need to update your will? Find out why having an up-to-date will is a must.

Try to consult with a couple of Toronto law firms and Toronto attorneys until you’re comfortable with whom you’re speaking with.  Toronto law firms differ in size, location, expertise, and reputation.  Go to Dynamic Lawyers and save time and money finding the right Toronto law firms and Toronto attorneys who specialize in the legal area you require!

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In this week’s Law Times, Robert Todd interviewed Toronto family law lawyer Robert Berman about his website, MyOntarioDivorce.com.  The website helps self-represented litigants in divorce matters (of which there are many) obtain low-cost and automatically-generated court forms for divorce cases.

Berman came up with the idea about a year and a half ago while observing how self-represented litigants who couldn’t afford lawyers were being treated in court by judges and court staff.  He envisioned a free website full of information and links to help every day people get help about the divorce process and relevant family law legislation.

After hiring a computer programmer and spending over $100,000, the website officially launched in mid-february this year.  The response has been “overwhelming” according to Bermann.  The website allows individuals to pay anywhere from $100 to $850 / month to fill out an online questionaire and generate court-forms (e.g. motions, reply, conference briefs, etc.).  According to Berman, the same service from a lawyer would cost from $2,500 to $4,000.

Berman – a longstanding family law lawyer who practices out of his firm, Berman Barristers – is crusading for better access to justice in the family law arena through the unbundling of legal services (which I have previously blogged about).

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Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only.   If you need legal advice with respect to failure to warn, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Toronto personal injury lawyers registered on the website who can assess your situation and, if need be, represent you in litigation or alternative dispute resolution.

With warmer weather around the corner, I thought I’d take some time to discuss the duty which Ontario property owners have to warn people of the dangers of diving in bodies of water on their premises.  Hopefully, property owners will be more aware of such a duty (i.e. assuming there is one in light of all the relevant factors and circumstances) and take reasonable and necessary precautions to prevent future injuries and deaths from happening in Ontario waters.

Section 3 of Ontario’s Occupier’s Liability Act provides that:

(1) An occupier of premises owes a duty to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that persons entering on the premises…are reasonably safe while on the premises.

Courts have found that there is no duty to warn of a danger which is so obvious and apparent that anyone would be aware of it.  Courts have stated that property owners  are required to exercise care against dangers that are sufficiently probably to be included in the category of contingencies which should normally be foreseen (see for example, Alchimowicz v. Schram and Woods v. Ontario (Minister of Natural Resources).

In determining whether a duty to warn exists, courts from various jurisdictions have taken into consideration a number of factors, including (but not limited to):

• The injured party’s age;
• Whether the injured party was inebriated from excessive consumption of alcohol;
• The injured party’s previous swimming/diving experience;
• The injured party’s familiarity with the water and surrounding area;
• The particular risk posted by the injured party’s activity (e.g. shallow dive from a standing position, diving off of a rock platform, etc.);
• The obviousness/awareness of the danger to both the injured party and the property owner;
• The practicability and cost of post warning signs;
• The injured party’s view of the bottom of the water prior to diving;
• The time at which the injured party dove (i.e. was the bottom of the water visible, was the property open to the public at the time?);
• The time of year (i.e. was the water cold, did the water level fluctuate, was the property open to the public at the time?); and
• Whether the injured party had been previously warned by experiences, signs, people, etc. about the depth of the water or the consequences of diving.

Once again, if you have been involved in an accident or injury that involved diving into water, you should consult a Toronto personal injury lawyer to determine if you have a case and seek representation to litigate/resolve the matter.

written by admin \\ tags: 's liability, accident, accidents, court, diving s, duty to warn, failure to warn, injuries, injury, lawyer, lawyers, litigants, ontario property, personal injury lawyers, property owners, signage, swimming diving, toronto

Types of lawyers.  There are lots in Toronto (as in every major city across North America).  Each has his or her own specialty.  The day of the general practitioner is not as it once was (and is slowly fading away).  In fact, specialization is a preferred strategy to earn above-average returns in any given industry.  Besides, think of how hard it would be for a lawyer who ‘does it all’ to keep up to date with the changing laws in every given legal area.  It’s way too difficult and that’s where negligence cases may arise.

In any event, I thought I’d spend some time discussing the various types of lawyers that you can come across on a day-to-day basis.  Here’s the first breakdown of types of lawyers in Toronto (please keep in mind that this list of the types of lawyers out there is not exhaustive):

• Toronto Real Estate Lawyers: help you buy and sell residential, investment, farm, cottage, recreational, condominium, and cooperative properties.  They also you get a mortgage financing and refinancing as well.

• Toronto Personal Injury Lawyers: help you litigate, settle, or otherwise resolve claims arising from:
  • accident benefits claims
  • dog bites
  • disability claims
  • medical malpractice
  • motor vehicle accidents
  • negligence actions
  • personal injury claims
  • product liability
  • slip and falls

• Toronto Business lawyers: help you to incorporate and organize, merge/amalgamate, and dissolve your business.  They can help prepare, review, interpret, revise, negotiate, litigate, and resolve the following business documents:
  • shareholder agreement
  • partnership agreement
  • joint venture agreement
  • franchise agreement
  • commercial leases
  • business acquisitions
  • regulatory compliance
  • constructions contracts
  • employment agreements

• Toronto Wills and Estates Lawyers: they offer services from a basic will and powers of attorney  to more complicated tax-planning structures, such as inter-vivos trusts and estates freezes.  They can also help personal representatives in the administration and distribution of estate assets.  Finally, they can litigate on behalf of beneficiaries or the estate trustee on issues such as mental capacity of the testator, validity of a will, etc.

• Toronto Family Lawyers: they can help you with your marriage breakup by drafting a separation agreement.  They can also help you with issues such as divorce, spousal and child support, child custody, possession of the matrimonial home, and the equalization of net family property.
  

• Toronto Criminal Defense Lawyers: they can help represent you against government bodies that have charged you with criminal or provincial offences (e.g. careless driving), including:
  • DUI (driving under the influence)
  • assault
  • sexual assault
  • fraud
  • theft

written by admin \\ tags: accident, accidents, business acquisitions, business lawyers, businessdefense, commercial leases, criminal, custody, family law lawyer, franchise agreement, injuries, injury, investment farm, joint venture agreement, lawyer, lawyers, lawyers in Toronto, litigants, marriage, negligence, negligence actions, negligence cases, negotiating, Negotiations, offence, partnership, personal injury claims, personal injury lawyers, personallawyer, real estate lawyers, separation, shareholder agreement, toronto, toronto motor vehicle accidents, toronto business, toronto personal injury, Toronto real estate Types of Lawyers, trusts and estates, vivos trusts, Wills and Estates

Note: this is not legal advice. You are always cautioned to turn to a lawyer if you feel you need to (e.g. by making a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  I am only providing this information for educational purposes only.

The consequences for failing to comply with a costs order include having an action stayed, having pleadings struck, or the court making “such order as is just”: rules 57.03(2) and 60.12 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.  Rule 60.12 deals with interlocutory cost awards (e.g. arising out of interlocutory motions). The party seeking these results would need to bring a motion in order to ask for them. The exact consequence will be determined on a case by case basis.

At the present time, the leading case on the jurisprudence concerning rules 57.03(2) and 60.12 is Burrell v. Peel (Regional Municipality) Police Services Board.

In that motion, Master Dash held that, in deciding whether to stay the action or strike the pleadings, the courts must try to strike a balance “between on the one hand the rights of an indigent litigant to have his or her day in court without concern that access thereto will be denied because of unpaid interlocutory costs orders and on the other hand the rights of other litigants not to be faced with litigants who, using impecuniosity as a shield against the costs consequences of their actions, are free to ignore the rules and orders of the court”.

While courts are somewhat reluctant to deprive a worthy but impecunious litigant of the opportunity to have his or her claim adjudicated when it is not plainly devoid of merit, litigants are not free to ignore or flout orders of the court awarding costs against them. Finally, among the factors the court should consider in determining what result is just on a motion to dismiss an action against an impecunious litigant for failure to pay a costs award are the consequences that led up to the award of costs (e.g. were costs awarded to deter bad behavior or simply against a losing party to a motion brought or resisted in good faith and on reasonable grounds?).

written by admin \\ tags: Civil Litigation, consequences, court, Dynamic Lawyers, failing to pay costs, lawyer, lawyers, litigants, litigation, merits, s in Toronto, toronto lawyer

I am a sole practitioner with my own law practice here in Toronto (focusing on business law, lobbying, and litigation). I was surfing www.craigslist.org (a popular free classifieds website) earlier last year and noticed something peculiar: in the clutter of lawyer posts advertising their services on mass, a few individuals (i.e. non lawyers) had taken the initiative to actually post their legal problems online and seek legal advice. These individuals were onto something: they were leveraging technology to get quick and free answers from lawyers, including how much it would cost for a particular legal service. I responded to two of them and now they’re both my clients. This got me thinking: why not have a website dedicated to people posting their legal issues online and getting free information and quotes from local lawyers? So, with the help of two tech-savvy friends from business school, I set out to develop a website called Dynamic Lawyers that does exactly that. After months of hard work, the website officially launched in Toronto in November 2008.  Since launching, Dynamic Lawyers has been featured in the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, CFRB1010 Radio, Toronto Sun, 24 Hours, Toronto Business Times, Law Times, and more are on their way…

written by admin \\ tags: Dynamic Lawyers, history of dynamic s, in the news, lawyer, lawyers, litigants, litigation, Michael Carabash, practitioner, quotes, technology, toronto

As with lawyers, the end of Realtors is often prophesized through the advent of sell-by-owner websites that cut out the 6% commission which Realtors and brokerages charge for a typical transaction.   The idea behind the website is simple: allow owners and sellers to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement for property without involving the middlemen.  This  trend has been ongoing for some time now and there are a number of websites dedicated to squeezing out Realtors, such as For Sale By Owner.

It is interesting to note that although this trend is currently being experienced in its infancy in the legal industry (i.e. where disruptive technologies like Dynamic Lawyers, automated document generation, etc. are making legal services more accessible, affordable, and expedient), there are many difference between Realtors and lawyers which would make Realtors in their traditional form much more obsolete and faster.

To begin, the barriers to entry to becoming a lawyer are much greater than they are to becoming a Realtor (which does not require years spent at university, articling, etc.).  Second, there is a real access to lawyer problem: affordable lawyer specializing in certain legal areas are somewhat hard to find (e.g. Lawyer Referral Service? YellowPages?  Friends and Family?  Who do you turn to?).  There is no such access to Realtors problem: everyone and their uncle knows of a realtor they can turn to in order to sell their home or help them buy a new one.  Moreover, Realtors spend an exuberant amount of money advertising their services in a cut-throat market.  Third, lawyers must often specialize in certain complicated legal areas which take years of experience and know-how to develop expertise in.  For the most part, all Realtors can provide the same basic services – whether it be assisting clients in buying, selling, or leasing a home, commercial office, farm, etc.  If there is specialization in the real estate industry, it is likely confined to geographic areas and types of homes; this doesn’t take away from the fact that all Realtors are capable of doing the same thing (i.e. filling in paperwork, negotiating, and finalizing a deal).  These three differences reveal that lawyers – particularly those who specialize in a complicated legal area such as tax litigation or commercial law – are and will continue to be in high demand and, as such, safe and secure from disruptive technologies that will take business away from other types of lawyers.

Overall, given the low barriers to becoming a realtor, the market prevalence and accessibility to Realtors, and the fact that they can all pretty much perform the same services to assist clients, I envision the end of traditional Realtors happening on a wider scale much quicker than it would for traditional lawyers.

written by admin \\ tags: agreement, continuings, end of realtors, end of s, for sale by owner, lawyer, lawyers, litigants, litigation, money, negotiating, Negotiations, purchaser, referrals, technology, Toronto lawyer Michael Carabash

For most people there is nothing that can take the romance out of an engagement faster than the request for a marriage contract. Somehow marriage contracts seem inconsistent with the commitment that is the essence of marriage. However, sometimes a marriage contract may be a good idea.

A marriage contract defines rights and obligations during marriage or on separation, divorce or death. In the absence of a contract, these rights and obligations are governed by the family law legislation in effect in Ontario. Because it must be applied to many different fact situations, the legislation is not tailor-made. It also gives a lot of discretion to judges, making it quite unpredictable on occasion. Many different judges, with many different points of view, hear family law cases. Finally, the legislation can change. Ontario has had two major revisions of its family law legislation since 1978. The laws that would govern your rights if you were to divorce today may not be the laws that will govern your rights if you divorce in the future.

A marriage contract permits couples to design a tailor-made result rather than being governed by legislation. They may do this because the legislation does not seem fair to them, because it does not suit their needs or because they want to try to avoid litigation if the marriage ends. Seen in this light, marriage contracts are not cynical; they are simply a tool couples use to define and tailor their rights.

For instance…

There are many reasons to contract out of the legislation. In general terms, and subject to some important exceptions, the legislation provides that spouses jointly share their net increase in wealth from the date of marriage to the date of separation or death. If one spouse is very wealthy at the time of the marriage, the legislation could result in a windfall to the other spouse. Through a marriage contract the spouses could agree to an unequal division in the increase in wealth. This does not mean the poorer spouse gets nothing; the spouses can negotiate a fair result. For instance, they could agree that the property division would vary depending on the number of years the marriage lasts.

A couple may also wish to contract out of the property provisions of the legislation if they are both financially independent and don’t want any claim to the other’s assets, or if either spouse has children from a previous marriage. In the latter case a marriage contract can ensure that the majority of the spouses’ assets goes to his or her children and not to the second spouse. As in the first example, this does not mean that the spouse is treated unfairly; the marriage contract can balance the interests of the spouse with the interests of the children.

Marriage contracts do not need to be signed before the marriage. They can be negotiated at any time. Sometimes they actually help couples in trouble make their marriage work. If a couple has experienced troubles in their marriage they may want a marriage contract going forward. Being clear about what would happen if a relationship ends (ie. knowing you will be treated fairly) can help some couples rebuild the trust they need to stay together.

What cannot be contracted

One large advantage marriage contracts have over legislation is flexibility – they can deal with one issue or asset or many issues and all assets. With the exceptions noted below, the potential terms of a marriage contract are limited only by the imagination. However, marriage contracts cannot deal with custody of or access to children or a spouses’ rights to possession of the matrimonial home. Further, any provisions in a marriage contract relating to the support, education or moral training of a child may be disregarded by a court if it believes the provision is not in the child’s best interest.

Cohabitation agreements

The law in Ontario also recognizes cohabitation agreements. People who are living together, or who intend to live together, may enter into a contract outlining their rights and obligations during or after their cohabitation, or on death. Cohabitation agreements are often a very good idea because the law in Ontario does not do much to protect the property rights of common law spouses. If you are in a common law relationship it would probably be a very good idea to define your property rights by contract. However, these contracts must be drafted carefully because unless it provides otherwise, a cohabitation agreement becomes a marriage contract if the parties marry each other.

In short, if your partner proposes a marriage contract or a cohabitation agreement don’t assume it means they don’t love you as much as they should. There are lots of times such contracts make sense. In fact, you may want to consider one yourself.

___________

Ingrid van Weert is a compassionate and dedicated family lawyer with extensive experience in both divorce law and in all forms of dispute resolution available in the divorce process – negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation. She can be reached at ingrid@ontariodivorcelaw.ca or at 416-214-1501.

written by Ingrid van Weert \\ tags: agreement, arbitration, cohabitation Family Law, contracts, court, custody, engagements, fairness, family, judges, lawyer, lawyers, litigants, litigation, major, marriage, mediator, negotiating, Negotiations, relationships, revisions, separation, what to include in a marriage contract

One of the most common and most damaging misconceptions I hear as a family lawyer is the idea that people in common law relationships have the same legal rights as married spouses do. No, no, no! If you’re in a common law relationship and think you have the same rights as if you were married, you’re wrong. And that mistake could cost you very dearly if your relationship ends.

At the end of a relationship, whether marriage or common law, the five main issues are custody of children, visitation rights for the non-custodial parent, child support, spousal support and division of property. There are many other issues that may come up as well – possession of the matrimonial home, life insurance, immigration status, wills and powers of attorney to name a few – but those are the big five.

In the first three categories there is not much difference between being married and living common law. The law tries to treat all children equally so the rights of children born in common law relationships are generally the same as those born into marriages. However, when it comes to spousal support and dividing property accumulated during a relationship there are very important differences between marriage and common law relationships.

Spousal support

If you are married you can claim spousal support under either the Divorce Act or under the Family Law Act. If you cohabit you don’t have spousal support rights under the Divorce Act. And the difference between the rights of married spouses and the rights of common law spouses under the Family Law Act is apparent right in the definition of spouse. A married spouse is a spouse – and hence has spousal support rights – from the instant they are married. A person is not even considered a spouse in a common law relationship unless they have been cohabiting continuously for three years or they are in a relationship of some permanence and are the natural or adoptive parents of a child. In other words, at the end of a common law relationship you can’t even seek spousal support unless you cohabited for more than three years or you and your partner have a child together.

Property rights

The difference in spousal support rights is minor compared to the difference in property rights between married and common law spouses. This is where I see people seriously hurt by the common assumption that the law treats married couples and common law couples equally.

In Ontario the Family Law Act gives married spouses very specific property rights; it does not give any property rights to common law spouses. A common law spouse can assert a property claim under a doctrine called constructive trust but these claims are difficult and costly to prove and are far less generous than the rights given to married spouses by the Family Law Act. In other words, if you let your partner put all or most of the property in his or her name in a common law relationship you may find he or she gets to keep it all, even if your income and work helped buy it.

The lesson in this is that if you live in a common law relationship you must make sure that you accumulate property in your own name. Don’t let all property go into the name of your spouse on the assumption that if your relationship ends, the property will be divided between you. That is not how the law works for common law relationships. Another solution is to enter into a cohabitation agreement setting out how property will be divided if the relationship ends. But please don’t assume you have the same property rights as your married friends.

Ingrid van Weert is a compassionate and dedicated family lawyer with extensive experience in both divorce law and in all forms of dispute resolution available in the divorce process – negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation. She can be reached at ingrid@ontariodivorcelaw.ca or at 416-214-1501.

written by Ingrid van Weert \\ tags: agreement, arbitration, common law, continuings, custody, damages, family, insurance, lawyer, lawyers, litigants, litigation, marriage, mediator, negotiating, Negotiations, parents, property rights, relationships, spousal support