Dear Friends, We are back with another edition of Reaching Out. With 2020 behind us and some light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic tunnel, we thought it appropriate to reconnect with our Social Services clients with a Spring edition of Reaching Out. We chose not to publish Reaching Out last year as we…
Practice Area: Litigation
We Welcome Four New Associates to the Firm
Hicks Morley is pleased to announce that four new associates have joined the firm in our Ottawa, Toronto and Waterloo Offices. Michael Babe is joining our colleagues and continuing his labour and employment practice in Hicks Morley’s Ottawa office. Michael looks forward to serving our clients and providing support to them on a wide range…
Diana Mansour
Diana Mansour is a litigation lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Toronto office. She provides advice and representation to management in both the private and public sectors on numerous issues such as wrongful dismissal and disability claims, class actions, defamation, wrongful competition, historic sexual abuse claims, judicial reviews and appellate litigation. Diana received her Juris Doctor from…
Larissa V. J. Putt
Larissa Putt is a labour and employment lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Waterloo office. She provides advice and representation to employers in both the private and public sectors on a wide range of labour and employment issues including grievance arbitration, labour disputes, collective bargaining and human rights advocacy work. She also provides employers with practical guidance on a wide array of statutory compliance related matters including employment standards compliance.
Michael Babe
Michael Babe is a labour and employment lawyer with Hicks Morley’s Ottawa office. He provides advice and representation to management in both the public and private sectors on a broad range of labour, employment and human rights matters. Michael has experience with wrongful dismissal claims, human rights complaints and labour disputes. Michael has appeared before…
Ontario Court of Appeal Finds Anti-SLAPP Motions Can Apply To Causes of Action Beyond Defamation
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently released two decisions which consider the Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) provisions of the Courts of Justice Act. The provisions are aimed at discouraging actions that have the harmful effect of chilling individuals and organizations from speaking out on matters of public interest. The first decision of the…
Beyond COVID-19: 2020 Year in Review – Cases and Legislation of Note
Employers and human resource professionals will undoubtedly remember 2020 as the “year of the pandemic.” But … there were also legal developments in 2020 that were not related to COVID-19. In this FTR Now, we look at some of the year’s notable “non-pandemic” cases and legislative developments of interest. We also identify some decisions and…
Rules of Civil Procedure Amended to Provide for Virtual Proceedings and Electronic Processes
The Ontario government has filed regulatory amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules) which come into effect on January 1, 2021. Many of the amendments update the Rules to provide for virtual proceedings and electronic processes. Ontario Regulation 689/20 amends numerous provisions of the Rules relating to hearings by videoconference, electronic certified copies, electronic…
Dianne Jozefacki Authors a Chapter on Employment Contracts and the State of the Law on Termination Clauses in the Annual Review of Civil Litigation 2020
Dianne Jozefacki recently contributed a chapter titled, “Employment Contracts and the State of the Law on Termination Clauses” to the Annual Review of Civil Litigation 2020 by the Honourable Mr. Justice Todd L. Archibald and the late Honourable Mr. Justice Randall Scott Echlin
Key Changes to Ontario’s Class Proceedings Regime Now in Effect
For the first time in nearly three decades, significant changes have been made to Ontario’s class proceedings regime. The amendments to the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 (Act)came into effect on October 1, 2020 and are significant in terms of their substance and scope, modifying many key provisions of the existing Act and adding nearly a dozen more.