Introduction In an earlier edition of Deadbeat,[1] I wrote a case comment on the decision of Greer J. granting partial summary judgment in the Estate of Paul Penna.[2] The decision was appealed. As recently reported in the Ontario Reports, the Court of Appeal (“C.A.”) dismissed the appeal.[3] What follow is a consideration of the C.A.’s
I recently attended a client meeting where the issue of mediation was hotly debated. My client expressed reluctance in participating in a process with a party that my client regarded as intransigent and obstinate. My client also thought that proposing mediation would suggest to the other side that our case was weak and we were
Mediation is a common occurrence in estate litigation. Mediation is also popular in other areas, including family law and even commercial litigation. When choosing a mediator, I look for the following characteristics: Knowledgeable (has to know the law) Experienced at mediating (too many “wannabes”) Litigation savvy (knows the true costs and challenges of litigation) Empathetic
The Supreme Court of Canada had this to say about abuse of process: The doctrine of abuse of process engages the inherent power of the court to prevent the misuse of its procedure in a way that would be manifestly unfair to a party to the litigation before it or would in some other way
An article was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in May 2007 and can be found at www.ajp.psychiatryonline.org. Among other things, the article considered the common cognitive screening tests used by the medical profession to assess testamentary capacity. By way of introduction, the article states: Clinicians and legal experts must understand that cognitive tests
