In its decision released last Fall in Davy Estate v. CIBC World Markets Inc. , the Ontario Court of Appeal affirmed an Ontario Superior Court order striking out a third party claim in which the defendant had tried to sue the plaintiff’s lawyer. The third party claim had alleged that the plaintiff’s lawyer had given the plaintiff bad advice on the mitigation of her damages. In addition to finding that the third party claim against the plaintiff’s lawyer could not succeed at law, the Court of Appeal also cited policy reasons against permitting one party to sue another party’s lawyer for alleged negligence; noting that such claims undermine a lawyer’s loyalty to their client and invade the sanctity of the lawyer-client relationship. [more] Full article

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently clarified the difference between mutual and unilateral contractual mistake in the case of Royal Bank of Canada v. El-Bris Limited. Laskin J.A., writing for the court, explained that the four prerequisites set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in Performance Industries Ltd. v. Sylvan Lake Golf & Tennis Club only apply to cases of unilateral, not mutual, contractual mistake. [more] Full article