Appellate lawyer, Brian Radnoff provides a summary of
Lerners' Top 5 Ontario civil appeals decisions from May,
2014.
(1) Rajmohan v. Norman H. Solmon Family Trust, 2014 ONCA 352 - A
decision involving solicitor's negligence required the Ontario
Court of Appeal to consider two issues relevant to limitations -
(i) the doctrine of "fraudulent concealment" and (ii) the
doctrine of "special circumstances."
(2) Mandeville v. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, 2014
ONCA 417 - A decision by a trial judge dismissing class
members' claim on the basis that Manulife did not owe them a
duty of care required the Ontario Court of Appeal to consider
whether a company owed a of duty of care to its policyholders in
connection with a legitimate transaction.
(3) Virc v. Blair, 2014 ONCA 392 - Arising out of a motion for
summary judgment under Rule 16 of the Family Law Rules, the Ontario
Court of Appeal considered whether Rule 16 (unlike its Rule 20 of
the Rules of Civil Procedure) precludes the motions judge from
assessing credibility, weighing evidence, or drawing factual
conclusions.
(4) Bulut v. Carter, 2014 ONCA 424 -- A decision by a trial
judge's dismissal of the action against the Carter family,
required the Ontario Court of Appeal to consider two legal issues
(i) the nature of the contractual defence of non est factum; and
(ii) the extent to which legal issues should be set out in
pleadings in order to be arguable by the party advancing
them.
(5) Boucher v. Wal-Mart Canada Corp., 2014 ONCA 419 -- A decision
involving the wrongful dismissal in favour of an employee required
the Ontario Court of Appeal to consider employment law and
specifically the law of constructive dismissal and the availability
of aggravated and punitive damages in wrongful dismissal
situations.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
