In Fall 2024, Ontario announced upcoming amendments to the Construction Act, following a five-year review of the broad changes implemented during 2018 and 2019.  Perhaps the most significant upcoming change is the decision to impose mandatory expiry of liens and release of holdback on an annual basis: each year, all…

As of January 1, 2025, the 2024 Ontario Building Code will officially take effect. However, transition rules allow for the submission of new building permit applications under the existing 2012 Code until April 1, 2025, provided that applicants can demonstrate that their working drawings were substantially complete by December 31,…

Kelly Santini’s Shawn O’Connor represented a film producer in a personal injury action brought by an actor in the film who suffered a dog bite on the film set during filming. After a two-day hearing before the Workplace Safety and Insurance Tribunal we were successful in obtaining a declaration that…

The Ontario Construction Act (the “Ontario Act”) introduced construction adjudications in late 2019. Since then, there has been an increasing uptake of adjudications in Ottawa, and across Ontario.  Between 2022 and 2023, the number of construction adjudications commenced in Ontario more than doubled, with 269 adjudications being commenced in 2023,…

The one question that estate planning lawyers receive from clients and prospective clients most often is, “Why do I need a Will?”  While this is a complex question, there are many compelling reasons why everyone should have a Will. Estate planning is a crucial aspect of financial and personal planning…

In the case of Simmermon v. Djoudad et al., Kelly Santini’s Danesh Rana successfully assisted his clients in getting the court to strike opposing expert reports from the record. The court ruled that the evidence presented by the opposing expert was highly prejudicial, as the expert had been granted access…

Kelly Santini’s J.P. Zubec and Henry Bertoia achieved a successful result in a motion brought within a complicated estate dispute between step-siblings.    The case arose out of the following facts:  J.P. and Henry’s clients, Tracy and Virginia, were the children of a woman (Colleen) who left the vast majority of her estate to…

Kelly Santini’s Mitchell Kitagawa and Tor Potter recently achieved a successful result in a complicated insurance defence matter. Mitch and Tor represented a landlord that was being sued by a tenant who slipped and fell on ice at the front step of their row house. The lease stated that the tenant was responsible for…