Please keep in mind that this is not legal advice.  The information provided herein is for educational purposes only. If you would like to get in touch with a lawyer to help you draft, interpret, negotiate or resolve a dispute about a joint venture, then you are encouraged to seek a professional (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Toronto and Ottawa lawyers who can assist you in this regard (I would know, I’m one of them!).

So this blog will deal with the basics of a joint venture agreement or contract.  In other blogs, I’ll get down to the nitty gritty.

Definition
Plaint and simple, a joint venture is a contract between two or more parties to share resources, knowledge, skills, etc. towards a common objective.

Parties
As usual in these types of agreements, the parties are identified at the get-go (make sure this is done properly or else your contract won’t be worth the paper it’s written on!).

Recitals
This is the background story you want to tell that leads up to the formation of the joint venture.  It could go something like: Party X does Y and has Z.  Party A does B and has C.  The two would now like to join forces to make even more $$$.  So they’re agreeing to have a joint venture in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the joint venture agreement or contract…

Definitions
It’s a good idea to set out the definitions you’re going to be relying upon near the top of the joint venture agreement (for ease of reference and good organization).  You could include definitions here about “Confidential Information” (assuming there will be confidential information passed between the parties as a result of the joint venture), what constitutes “Force Majeure” (e.g. act of God that relieves a party of liability under the agreement in certain circumstances), etc.

Business Structure
The joint venture agreement or contract will generally state how the joint venture is structured.  Is it simply two separate entities acting in concert through the joint venture agreement or contract?  Will there be a new corporation formed?  Will there be a partnership formed?  Will that partnership be a general or limited liability partnership?  For more discussion about the general forms of business one can structure in Ontario, check out this free information about business structures we’ve been accumulating.

Nature of the Relationship
So will the joint venturers be partners (capable of binding each other), corporate shareholders, or simply joint venturers (i.e. their rights and obligations are limited to the terms of the joint venture agreement or contract).

Term and Termination
How long will the joint venture last for and what events give rise to its premature termination?  Will the parties simply be able to give each other notice?  Will the joint venture dissolve by operation of law, by one party filing for bankruptcy, by one party attempting to illegally assign their interest in the joint venture to a third party, etc.?  Again, you should consult with a lawyer to find out what kinds of things typically go in this section.  Also important is what to do in the even of default.  Does one of the joint venturers become liable to pay the other if they are at fault?  Who determines fault and according to what test (e.g. sole and absolute discretion)?  There’s a lot to think about here…

Joint Venture Assets and Benefits
How will these things be deal with?  Will there be a percentage of ownership?  Will the benefits be based on revenues or profits?  Can these interests be assigned?

Operations
How will the joint venture be operated on a day-to-day basis?  Will the joint venture committee have the power to enter contracts on behalf of the joint venture?  Perhaps the joint venture committee will create a new corporation to take on a certain responsibilities and simply own equally the shares of the new corporation.  That new corporation would operate as a separate business, but its shareholders would be the joint venturers (who would elect the directors, who in turn would appoint the day-to-day officers).  This would be a good place to put reporting and record-keeping requirements too.

Joint Venture Responsibilities
Here, we get to the nitty gritty of who will be responsible for what in the joint venture. Separate paragraphs will be needed for each of the parties.

Joint Venture Management
Will there be a committee?  Will representatives from each of the parties be on the commitee?  Will there be a chairperson?  How will meetings be managed, votes and decision made?  Will there be direction from owners and delegation to the committee?  In my opinion, and as I’ve previously blogged about, businesses should be run as dictatorships with consultants, not as democracies (too many voices means things won’t get done).  

Representations and Warranties
What kinds of true, fair, and complete statements must the parties make to induce the other parties to enter the agreement?  The parties want to know that their joint venturer partners have the authorization and operational wherewithall to do what it is they are about to do.  If these representations and warranties no longer hold true, then what’s the consequence?  Notice?  Termination?  This should be spelled out here…

Liability and Indemnification
Will the joint venturers try to limit their liability from each other in connection with the joint venture?  Will they indemnify each other for their own wrongdoing – whether in contract, tort, negligence, misconduct, breach of statute or otherwise?

General Terms and Conditions
This section of the Joint Venture Agreement will deal with things like (which I’ve previously touched on in teh context of an independent contractor agreement):

• Notices
• Entire Agreement
• Governing Law
• Interpretation
• Assignment
• Waiver
• Cumulative Remedies
• Counterparts
• Enurement
• Entire Agreement
• Time of Essence
• Independent Legal Advice
• Force Majeure
• Severability
• Survival
• Currency

written by admin \\ tags: agreement, assets, bankruptcies, bankruptcy, blog, breach, business, circumstances, confidentiality, contracts, corporation, indemnification, lawyer, lawyers, liabilities, negligence, negotiating, Negotiations, partnership, percentages, relationships, separation, shareholder, shareholders, shareholdings, toronto

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

written by admin \\ tags: accident, accidents, agreement, attorneys, beneficiaries, business, business acquisitions, commercial leases, contracts, criminal, custody, defense, Dynamic Lawyers, family, franchise agreement, fraud, incorporation, incorporators, injuries, injury, investment farm, joint venture toronto personal actions, law, lawyer, lawyers, liabilities, litigants, litigation, marriage, mentality, negligence, negligence cases, negotiating, Negotiations, offence, partnership, personal injury claims, practitioner, preferred strategy, property, revisions, separation, shareholder, shareholders, shareholdings, testator, toronto, toronto attorney, toronto attorneys, toronto business, toronto real estate, Wills and Estates

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 creating a limited liability company, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).  We have Toronto business lawyers registered on the website who can answer your questions or help you draft and submit articles of incorporation for Ontario or Federal corporations.

Want to know to incorporate?  First, if you’re trying to do it yourself, it’s pretty straightforward.  You just need to figure out which jurisdiction you’re trying to incorporate and then use a website service provider that will allow you to submit articles of incorporation, conduct a NUANS name search and submit a NUANS name search report, etc.  While the government fees are not high to incorporate (e.g. $200 for a federal corporation, plus $20 for a NUANS name search report), there are a number of questions arise which may lead you to seek out answers to questions relating to how to incorporate.

For example, you may have questions concerning what exactly goes into the Articles of Incorporation.  You can find a previous blog about Articles of Incorporation here. “Articles of Incorporation” is the name of the document that must be submitted to the Federal Government to create a corporation.  A corporation is a separate and distinct legal entity from its incorporators and from its owners, managers, employees, etc.  A corporation has its own rights and obligations; must file its own taxes (at both the provincial and federal levels); has its own income, assets, and liabilities; and can be sued and sue other parties.  These things being said, a corporation must act through other parties (e.g. owners, managers, employees, directors, etc.), who can in turn be held liable for their actions (e.g. negligence, breach of contract, etc.), although the corporation will likely be sued in these circumstances because of things like vicarious liability, insurance, and its otherwise deep pockets.

But simply submitting and having the government approve of your incorporate package is not sufficient to have your company up and running.  In fact, the cheap incorporation companies out there that promise to incorporate your company may not help you establish by-laws (which are power-giving or authority-giving documents that make corporate actions legal), prepare director and shareholder meetings and minutes (which establish accountability and transparency by letting stakeholders know what was decided upon), and finish explaining each party’s (i.e. shareholders, directors, officers, employees) roles and responsibilities vis-a-vis the corporation. Knowing how to incorporate is a good start,  but it’s always wise to consult with a business lawyer (e.g. by making a post on Dynamic Lawyers) with respect to questions about these and other things corporation related.

The roles of the various parties in a corporation will be discussed in the next post…

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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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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 retaining a personal injury lawyer, 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 court proceedings or help settle your case.

Personal Injury Lawyers in Toronto: who are they?
A personal injury lawyer is trained to represent parties (e.g. individuals, corporations, partnerships, etc.) in a civil dispute.   In civil cases, unlike criminal cases (where the state or government is the party that is prosecuting an accused person), one or more parties sue each other and the state is typically not a party to the proceedings.

What Toronto Personal Injury Lawyers can do for you
Some of the things which personal injury lawyers in Toronto can assist you in include (but are not limited to) the following:

1. Determining and advising you on your rights and whether you have a claim (e.g. for damages, for declaratory relief, for an injunction, for equitable remedies, etc.).
2. Explain the civil law process from the time you believe a claim arises through to trial, and finally to a court order and (perhaps) appealing a court order (if it gets there).
3. Negotiating with the opposing counsel to reach a settlement.
4. At trial, challenge witness’ credibility and testimony.
5. At trial, present expert evidence in the form of expert testimony and reports that are favourable to their client.
6. At trial, point out past cases (called precedents) that are in their client’s favour and draw analogies and parallels, while trying to distinguish unfavourable precedents.
7. At trial, protect their clients from answering inappropriate or irrelevant questions (e.g. questions that would tend to self-incriminate a party, questions which have nothing to do with the trial, or questions which makes the party give testimony which they are not competent or otherwise qualified to give, etc.).

The onus of proof
In Ontario civil trials, parties must generally establish the elements of their case on a balance of probabilities.  This means 50% + 1 %.  Hence, to establish that a party was negligence or breached a contract, it must establish that that party was more likely than not to have done so.   If, however, the elements of the offence are established, then a judge or jury may still find no liability or reduce damages accordingly if the other party had some type of justifcation or excuse (e.g. undue influence, duress, etc.).

When to consult with or hire a Toronto Personal Injury Lawyer?
Immediately on becoming aware of the fact that you have been injured or suffered damages, you should consult with a personal injury lawyer in Toronto.  They can help take away your stress by explaining the law (e.g. your rights, your obligations, your entitlements, etc.), helping to formulate a proper strategy, and telling you about how the civil law process works from start to finish.  Again, if you need legal advice with respect to retaining a Toronto personal injury lawyer, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

written by admin \\ tags: accidents and accidents lawyer, court, damages, injuries, injury, judges, lawyer, lawyers, negligence, negotiating, Negotiations, partnership, personalToronto personal injury, report, toronto

If you have been in an accident or suffered an injury, you may need to find a Toronto Personal Injury Lawyer.  Go to Dynamic Lawyers and make a post.

This is not legal advice.  This information is being provided for educational and informational purposes only.  If you require a lawyer, you should seek professional help (e.g. by making a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

In this blog, I’ll be discuss the basis elements of the law of negligence in Ontario as it related to personal injuries and accidents.  Please bear in mind, however, that the law of personal injury encompasses more than negligence and tort law: there are statutory benefit regimes, breaches of contract, breaches of consumer protection legislation, etc.  But, for the purposes of this post, I’ll narrow my focus to the law of personal injury as it pertains to suing a party for negligence.

Duty of Care
Not everyone who is careless will be liable.  It first depends on whether that party owed the injured party a duty to take care in all of the circumstances.  This so-called “duty of care” is a legal obligation on an party to adhere to a standard of care (discussed next), the breach of which may create liability for that party.  One example of the duty of care in everyday life is the duty that motorists owe to other motorists on the road.  Another example is the duty that care givers owe to their patients.  Basically, for a duty of care to exist and impose liability on a party,the risk of injury must be reasonably foreseeable to the specific injured party.  To determine if a duty of care exists, Ontario court may (among other factors) look at how close the parties were to each other, whether such a duty exists in other jurisdictions, and whether it makes sense for other reasons (e.g. economic, fairness, efficiency, deterrent, etc.) to impose such a duty.

Standard of Care
Once a duty of care has been found to exist on a party, their conduct (i.e. actions or omissions) will be examined to determine if they met the standard of care required of them in the circumstances.  Generally, parties are held to a standard of care that would be expected of a reasonable person of ordinary intelligence and prudence in their circumstances.  This means that children will typically be held to lower standards while doctors will be held to higher standards (and specialists will be held to even higher standards).  In the commercial context, things like industry standards and customs will be relevant in determining whether a party has breached the standard of care.

Causation
Even if a party owed a duty of care and breached the standard of care required, they may not be liable if their negligence did not cause the injuries complained of.  The general rule in Ontario is: ‘but for’ the party’s negligence (in other words, if the party’s negligence did not exist), would the injured party have suffered his/her/its damages and injuries?  Here, the injured party must demonstrate that, more likely than not, the party’s conduct was necessary for the occurrence of the injuries.  Hence, if it cannot be ascertained as probable that the party’s negligence caused the injuries complained of, then the negligent party may not be ultimately liable.

Remoteness
Even if a party owed a duty of care, breaches the standard of care, and caused the complaining party’s damages, that party may still not be liable if those damages were too remote.  This means that the negligent party is only liable for damages so long as the type of injury suffered was foreseeable as a probable consequence of the negligent act or was reasonably foreseeable as a real possibility.  The idea behind this rule is that it would be unfair to make a negligent party bear all of the consequences of his/her/it’s carelessness – especially when a moment’s inadvertence results in trivial or freakish consequences.

Defences
Even if a party is negligent (based on all of the factors outlined above being met), they may still have a defence that will either limit or negate their liability entirely.  Such defence include contribution (i.e. the injured party contributed to their own injuries), voluntary assumption of risk (e.g. the injured party had signed a waiver of liability in favour of the other party) or illegality (e.g. the injured party was doing something illegal at the time).

written by admin \\ tags: accident, accidents, causation, court, damages, defences, defense duty of care, injuries, injury, law personaldefense, lawyer, lawyers, negligence, personal lawyer, Personal Injury, remoteness, standard of care, toronto, Toronto personal injury voluntary assumption of risk

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

Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for educational purposes only.   If you need legal advice, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

A friend recently asked me: “What are the legal ramifications when I purchase something that doesn’t work for the purpose which I bought it for?  Take for example, the case of an explosion proof refrigerator.  What if it failed to protect people and things on the outside from the dangerous contents on the inside?”

Now that may be an extreme and unfortunate example, I thought.   But nevertheless, I thought it would be worthwhile to dissect his question and outline some general thoughts here..

As I understand it, the purpose of an explosion proof refrigerator is generally twofold:  (1) to protect the internal contents from external explosions and (2) to protect external things, people, etc. from internal explosions.  If the explosion proof refrigerator fails to do either or both of these things, then injuries, damages, and losses may result.

In these situations, a person may claim, in addition to other things, that the manufacturer of the explosion proof refrigerator: (1) breached the contract of purchase and sale with the buyer or (2) was negligent in manufacturing the explosion proof refrigerator.   In the former case, the contract should be examined to see what exactly was bargained for.   Sometimes, the contract (particularly in the fine print) will specify that consumer protection statutes are inapplicable.  Consumer protection statutes are generally designed to allow people to raise claims that the product they purchased did not meet the purpose for which it was purchase.  If the contract, however, specifically excludes the application of such statutes, then claims and relief through them would generally not be available.

With respect to negligence claims, it’s safe to say that the manufacturer owes a duty to the ultimate purchaser of the explosion proof refrigerator to take reasonable care in the way in which it manufactures such refrigerators. The manufacturer will be held to the standard of care of a reasonable manufacturer in the same industry following industry standards (i.e. with respect to safety, testing, design, etc.).  Hence, if the specific manufacturer failed to live up to that standard of care, it could be liable if the ensuing damages from the defective explosion proof refrigerator were caused by its negligence, those damages were reasonably foreseeable as resulting, and no viable defence (e.g. contributory negligence) is available.

Also worth mentioning is that advertisements in respect of the explosion proof refrigerator should  be examined to determine if they claimed that the product was suitable for something which turned out to be false.  In these case, a claim for misrepresentation (either innocent, negligent, or fraudulent) may also arise.  Claims for misrepresentation are generally based on false statements that induce one party to take action or refuse to take action and which causes injury or damage.

written by admin \\ tags: breach of contract, breach of statute, consumer protection, damages, educational purposes, explosion proof, internal contents, internal explosions, lawyers, legal advice, legal analysis, legal ramifications, losses, misrepresentation, negligence, negligence claims, professional assistance, purchaser, refrigerator, unfortunate example

Please keep in mind that this is not legal advice.  The information provided herein is for educational purposes only. If you would like to get in touch with a lawyer to determine whether you have a case worth pursuing, then you are encouraged to seek a professional (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers).

I’m sometimes asked by family, friends, clients, etc. whether they can sue for consuming part or all of a contaminated drink – or perhaps even just observing it. The typical situation is a fly in the soup or bottle at a restaurant.

In these situations, you may be able to sue based on a store/restaurant/manufacturer’s negligence or a breach of their contract with you (i.e. you didn’t get what you bargained for). There are a number of questions that you must typically answer before a lawyer can tell you whether you have a worthwhile case to sue for either of these grounds. For example: did you suffer monetary damages by missing work? Did you go to the hospital and have to pay for medication? Did this experience make you lose any money at all (other than the cost of the drink you likely threw away)? Did this experience cause you to have a psychiatric injury (e.g. nervous shock, emotional distress, a major depressive disorder with associated phobia and anxiety)? Basically, if you sue, a judge will want to know what your damages are in order to award you with something if liability has been found. If you haven’t really suffered any tangible damages, then it’s not worth suing because you won’t get anything.

The importance of establishing damages in these types of cases was reiterated recently by the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of Mustapha v. Culligan of Canada Ltd. Basically, in that case, a person sued a company for psychiatric injury after witnessing a fly in a water bottle. The Supreme Court held that the there was no negligence or breach of contract because the person could not establish that his damage was caused in law by the defendant’s negligence (i.e. the damages were “too remote” to allow recovery).

Each case is different, but at the end of the day, success will depend on what the damages are and whether it was foreseeable that a person of ordinary fortitude would suffer serious injury from, for example, drinking something and finding an insect in it.

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