Litigation

What is unjust dismissal? What is wrongful dismissal? What is a construction lien? What is the oppression remedy? What is constructive dismissal? How do I “perfect” my preserved lien? Who is entitled to a construction lien? Are there time periods for lien claims? What does it mean to “preserve” a lien? When do my rights to preserve a lien expire? What types of work do not qualify for a lien? All my lien rights have expired. What do I do? What is the best way to avoid a business dispute? Can I register a construction lien on the last day? What are the usual steps in a collection proceeding? Can my preserved lien expire? How do I prevent this? How can our firm prevent future assessments of costs? Are the costs of enforcement recoverable from the debtor? What are the advantages to registering a construction lien? Is it possible for the client to appeal to the Court of Appeal? I do not really want to go to trial. How can I settle this case? What happens if I provide the wrong information in my lien claim? In a shareholder’s dispute, are legal fees payable from company funds? As an employer, how should I respond to a work refusal by an employee? We have received an application for union certification. What should we do? How much will the Will challenge cost me and will I be able to recover my costs? Does work completed on a home renovation qualify under the Construction Lien Act? How can I secure my interest in a property that is or may be involved in litigation? How much notice of termination, or pay in lieu of notice, is an employee entitled to? What is the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”), and how does it affect employers? How do I know whether our workplace is governed by provincial or federal jurisdiction? There is a lien on my property. I need it removed to complete the project. What do I do? I am purchasing/selling a business. What employment law issues should I be concerned about? I am a contractor who worked on a renovation. Can I claim a lien on the work that I completed? My company has been unionized. Can I wind up my business and start up again under another name? What options are available to a landlord when a commercial tenant defaults in the payment of rent? My neighbour wants to remove a healthy tree between our properties. Do I have any right to stop him? Can an employer terminate the employment of an employee by simply meeting the statutory minimum requirements? I have been charged with what my friends tell me is a very minor criminal offence. Do I really need a lawyer? I wish to challenge the last will and testament put forward by my Mother’s caregiver. How long will this take? We have been served with notice of application from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”). What should we do? Are employees restrained by and limited to those obligations and entitlements provided under the employment agreement? There is a construction lien registered against my property from work that was done a long time ago. Can I get it removed? We obtained judgment against a debtor, but the debt has yet to be paid. How do we go about collecting the money owed to us? Are terminated employees required to sign a release in favour of their employer as a condition of receiving a termination package? The collective agreement is set to expire and we anticipate a lockout or strike action. What should we be doing to prepare our business? Our home renovation contractor has left the project unfinished and with many deficiencies. Can we hire someone else to complete the work? I have been served by the municipality with a Notice of Expropriation for a road widening off the front of my property. What are my rights? I am applying for a licence in a regulated industry, but the regulator wants to issue me a licence subject to various terms and conditions. Should I agree? A lawyer’s client acted on his own on an assessment of costs and lost, and has now appealed to a judge. What are the client’s chances of success on the appeal? The client owes $3,000.00 but insists on his entire file being delivered to him so that he can prepare a motion being heard next week. Can I refuse to produce the file? A new survey of my property indicates that my rear yard fence is not located along my lot limit and encroaches six feet into the adjoining property. What are my rights? We are an automobile-leasing company. One of our lessees has defaulted on payment under the lease and has refused to return the vehicle. What options are available to us? My parents are deceased. I have asked my brother, who seems to have taken control of things, for a copy of my parents’ wills, but he refuses. Can I get copies of the wills? We loaned money to a company that offered certain pieces of equipment as security. The debtor company has defaulted on the loans. Can we simply seize and sell the equipment? My second husband died recently and I was surprised to find out that he left most of his estate to the children of his first marriage. Can I make a claim against his estate? A lawyer is coming up to an assessment of costs and would like some advice, but questions if he needs legal representation for the entire assessment of costs. What should he do? I have three siblings. Our mother just passed away and under her will we each get an equal share of her estate, which I feel is unfair. How can I set aside the will to get my fair share? I am one of the beneficiaries of the residue of my father’s estate. My brother is the executor and will not give me any information about what he is doing. Can he withhold information from me? The purchaser of my property failed to complete the transaction and defaulted under the terms of the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and did not close on the deal. Am I entitled to keep the deposit paid? On the seventh day of a month, a lawyer’s client made a request to assess a series of her accounts, the last of which was dated the first day of the previous month. Can an order be obtained on requisition? I have been charged with selling vehicles without a licence under the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act. I have been told that I can pay a small fine and then apply for a licence under the applicable legislation. Is that correct? I went to see my lawyer to pick up my last account and receive settlement proceeds. To my surprise, the lawyer deducted an extra $25,000.00 for a “premium” without discussing this with me and without my agreement. Is this allowed? What if the last account is just a disbursement account for less than $100.00 and all of the other accounts are spread over four years, total over $100,0000.00, and are all paid? Can an order be obtained to assess all of the accounts? I am a minority shareholder. What steps can I take against the majority shareholder, who I suspect of misappropriating company funds, and refuses to provide me with the company records that a minority shareholder is entitled to at law? My mother was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease when she died. My sister tells me that Mother executed a new will two weeks before she died and appointed my sister as the estate trustee and sole beneficiary. How can that will be valid? My parents lived in the same house for 30 years, and used the same law firm since this purchase. Father died in 2011. Mother’s health/mental state are deteriorating and I have asked the lawyer for a copy of Mother’s last will, yet he refuses. I purchased my house for 30 years and recently learned that there was a mortgage registered on title 25 years ago which, my lawyer did not discover. The lender under that mortgage has never demanded payment/taken steps to enforce the mortgage. I loaned some money to an individual and received a mortgage on that person’s home as security for the loan. The borrower has stopped making payments and has not responded to my letters or emails. What can I do to collect the money owing to me? I have a licence application pending in a regulated industry, but cannot get the regulator to make a decision one way or the other. It has been months and my business plans are on hold, at considerable expense to me. Is any way to expedite the process? My lawyer took my case on a contingency basis where he is to receive 25% of the settlement. When I picked up my settlement proceeds, he has kept 25% of the entire settlement and in addition, has claimed all of the disbursements plus HST Is this proper?