Civil Litigation

Are you a minority shareholder being unfairly treated by the majority shareholders or the corporation? Are you being forced out of a company by the majority shareholders and need some protection? There is a vast area of law governing shareholder rights. The Ontario Business Corporations Act (OBCA) and the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) sets out the statutory framework for corporations and their officers, directors and shareholders. In particular, the oppression remedy referred to within these acts can be utilized by minority shareholders to prevent a majority shareholder or corporation from trampling on the rights of a minority shareholder. A minority shareholder can seek a court order restraining the conduct that they are complaining of. The court can compel the corporation or majority shareholder to act in a certain way. The court can even dissolve the corporation and liquidate it. In certain cases, a court can even pierce the corporate veil which means that a director can be found personally liable instead of just the corporation.

Sometimes business partners do not have a shareholders agreement that defines their respective rights and ownership interests. Perhaps they meant to have one but got too busy to ever finalize it. This has happened many times, even with successful companies. If a dispute later arises between business partners and there is no shareholders agreement, then the court will have to decide the parties’ respective ownership interests. Numerous factors could be involved in this decision, including the court reviewing emails, memorandums or oral discussions the parties originally had with respect to their roles and respective ownership interests. The court will have to piece together the corporate structure based on evidence that is not a shareholders agreement. Crangle has successfully argued on behalf of a party that had an ownership interest in a corporation even though there was never any shareholder agreement.

Call or email for a free consultation. Contingency fee arrangements may be available in appropriate circumstances.

There can be a wide variety of property disputes, such as: purchase disputes, return of deposit disputes, disputes with respect to the construction of a condominium or commercial property, property line disputes between neighbours, right of way disputes, among other things.

Many real estate disputes involve the failure of the purchaser to complete the purchase of a property. The reason why the sale was not completed is often in dispute, and in particular, whether the purchaser is entitled to the refund of their deposit. If the buyer and seller cannot agree about the refund of the deposit, then it can often lead to litigation.

Most buyers and sellers do not retain a lawyer until after the Agreement of Purchase and Sale has already been entered into. The Agreement of Purchase and Sale is typically handled by the parties’ respective real estate agents, who are not lawyers. Although real estate agents are trained, they often lack the legal knowledge to recognize a potential legal problem within an Agreement of Purchase and Sale. It is common that problems contained in an Agreement of Purchase and Sale are not realized until a real estate lawyer was subsequently retained. For instance, Agreements of Purchase and Sale often contain representations about a property. The real estate agents and parties may not realize that one of the representations is not accurate, or at least not fulsome. They might not find out about this until the buyer’s real estate lawyer sends a requisition letter to the seller’s real estate lawyer. If a buyer subsequently backs out of the purchase as a result of a requisition not being dealt with in a manner that is satisfactory to them, then the parties often argue over the deposit money and who is to blame for the sale not going through.

Real estate agents are insured for negligence. If they were negligent then their insurer will defend them in a lawsuit. The same is true for real estate lawyers that are negligent.

Another emerging area of property law relates to condominiums and their development. The Greater Toronto Area is now a sea of new condominium development. The residents of the houses and buildings next to those new condominium developments may not realize that they have rights that affect the construction next to them. For instance, developers often want to enter into tie back agreements for shoring up part of the excavation to be undertaken on the development site. The developer may want permission to install tie backs under the lands of the neighbouring property. The developer may also want to enter into a crane swing agreement for the air rights over the neighbouring properties. Many people do not realize that they own the air over their property, as well as the land deep under their property. The developer will often pay the neighbouring property owners for these rights. However, what they are offering financially may not be enough. Further, the neighbouring properties should hire their own engineer to perform an audit of the neighbouring properties prior to construction and throughout construction in order to detect cracks and damage to the neighbouring properties as a result of the construction. Crangle has experience negotiating tie back and air right / crane swing agreements with developers.

Call or email for a free consultation. Contingency fee arrangements may be available in appropriate circumstances.

Commercial litigation is an umbrella term to describe all areas of business-related litigation. There are innumerable reasons why a person or company might find itself in litigation. It is an unavoidable consequence of doing business sometimes. No matter what industry your company is in, there may be employment law issues, contract issues, supplier issues, partnership issues, human rights issues, intellectual property issues, employee theft, improper solicitation of customers, breach of non-competition clauses, etc. Crangle practices in all areas of commercial litigation. You should not have to go to a different lawyer or law firm for each legal issue you or your company may have. An experienced litigation lawyer should be able to do it all. In fact, there is a real benefit to having a lawyer that practices in all areas of commercial litigation. The more areas that a lawyer has knowledge of and been exposed to, the greater he will understand the issues facing the business. Having a broad base of experience and a global understanding of business litigation is a huge benefit to a client. Legal issues can often be interrelated and require both broad and specific legal knowledge.

Companies have trusted Crangle to handle their most highly complex commercial litigation, such as obtaining injunctions to prevent a competitor or departed employee from improperly stealing clients, to a variety of less complex legal matters. Whatever the problem is, Crangle has the knowledge and experience to help you obtain the desired result. Providing value to the client is also something that Crangle takes pride in. You will not be billed for a bunch of junior lawyers, articling students and paralegals that have been working on your case without your knowledge. You will always be informed about what needs to be done in the case, how we are going to get there, and what the expected timeline is. Communicating clearly with the client is just as important to Crangle as communicating clearly to a Judge. After all, if a lawyer cannot communicate clearly with the client, how do you expect them to do so with a Judge?

Employment Law is related to the connection between employers and employees. It mediates the connection between these two parties, such as when an employer can hire a worker, when the worker can start the work, what is the basic salary an employer must pay to his employees, and so much more.

Let Crangle Law Firm help you discover your employment rights thoroughly. We are a well-known firm with a team of dedicated and expert employment lawyers, serving people across various locations of Ontario, including Toronto. We aim to provide our customers with result-driven and cost-effective solutions to all kinds of workstation matters, such as wrongful dismissal, severance pay, disability claim denials, workplace harassment and bullying, and much more.

Have a word with Crangle Law Firm professionals before making any decision. Our team works for employees, independent contractors, and employers, and using our skilled advocacy and experience, we give them the right direction.

Those employees who get wrongfully terminated from work understand the challenges concerning employment rights. Some workers attempt to fight for their rights without involving professionals, resulting in an adverse effect on their potential claims.

However, hiring an employment lawyer can create a lot of difference in the scenario. The experts at Crangle Law are aware of the guidelines, time constraints, strict policies, and other complexities involved in workplace issues. We can assist you without unnecessary delays. Our highly educated employment attorneys use a systematic approach, persuasive language, and techniques and pay attention to what opposing side is thinking or going to do next.

If you are an employer, ensuring that all your employment contracts are updated with the latest employment rules and regulations should be in your priority list. It is hard to say when a law evolves into something more complex, so hiring an employment attorney will help you remain up to date. Sometimes, big organizations have outdated and unenforceable employment contracts. This puts your company at risk of having to pay substantial severance pays than it expected.

When the employee’s performance and behaviour are not up to the company’s standards, warning letters should be issued against him/her. The letters must contain the necessary disciplinary improvement the employee should work on, failing which the company is allowed to take a harsh step. Unless it is a major crime, employers are expected to issue three to four warning letters before handing out the suspension orders. Failure to do so might put your company in serious jeopardy.

Employers also need to know how to keep them free from harassment claims. Your employee might just lie to save his/her skin or benefit from you – you must make sure you are prepared beforehand. Crangle Law Firm can help to minimize an Employer’s legal exposure with precise advice.

Contract disputes often lead to litigation. A contract is a legally binding written document that governs the rights and obligations of the parties to the contract. There must be what is referred to as “consideration” for a contract to be enforceable. That means that that there must be a benefit or exchange between the parties for a contract to be enforceable. A gift that is not actually given is not an enforceable contract in most cases because there is a lack of consideration. Even if a contract is in writing, a court may find that it is unenforceable if the contract is vague, subject to different interpretations or was entered into when one of the parties was under duress. Further, a contract may not be enforceable due to misrepresentation, unconscionability or failure to be provided with a reasonable opportunity to obtain independent legal advice. There are many factors to consider when determining whether a contract or oral agreement is enforceable. When there is a contract in dispute, the first job of the lawyer is to review the contract and assess the circumstances surrounding it in order to give advice as to whether a contract is enforceable. Many contracts are poorly written, which leads to disputes later on.

In this era of international or interprovincial business, some contracts may specify the jurisdiction that a contract is to be governed by. You can start a lawsuit in Ontario if one of the parties is located here and there is a substantial connection to Ontario, even if the contract states that it is governed by the laws of another place. For instance, many insurance contracts state that their contracts are to be governed in accordance with Bermuda law even though the insurance policy owner resides in Ontario. In that case, the lawsuit may still be permitted to proceed in Ontario and the plaintiff’s lawyer would hire an expert in Bermuda law to provide a written opinion on the application of Bermuda law in the case.

Some contracts have an arbitration clause. Arbitration is like hiring a private judge (an arbitrator) who decides the case. The arbitrator will set up a timetable for certain steps to be taken in a case, similar to what the court does. If the case does not settle, then there will be an arbitration hearing where the arbitrator eventually renders a written decision.

People often ask if an oral agreement is binding. The answer is that an oral agreement can be enforceable, just like a written agreement. If the parties had an oral agreement and conducted themselves in a manner consistent with that oral agreement, then a court can enforce the oral agreement. This can be contradicted by emails or behaviour to the contrary, so it depends on the facts of each case as to whether an oral agreement is enforceable. Crangle has successfully sued on many oral agreements.

If you are a company, it is worthwhile to have your current contracts reviewed by Crangle to improve enforceability. Further, any important contracts with other companies can be reviewed before signing. A little due diligence can prevent big problems and costs down the road.

When someone keeps making empty promises to pay, or is not returning your telephone calls or emails, then it is time to hire an aggressive lawyer like Crangle. Sometimes it only takes a demand letter sent by a lawyer to get a debt paid, but other times it requires a lawsuit. There are two issues to debt collection:

1. Do you have a strong claim that the debt is owing; and
2. Is the debt collectible?

If the debtor has acknowledged the debt in writing or by email, but still has not paid, then the creditor may be in a position to bring a motion for summary judgment when there are no genuine facts dispute. This accelerates the court process so that the creditor does not have to wait two or three years or more to get to trial. In certain circumstances, obtaining a judgment against a debtor is only the first step. If the debtor does not pay the judgment then the creditor will have to take post-judgment enforcement steps such as garnishing a debtor’s bank account and issuing writs of seizure and sale in the jurisdiction where the debtor has property. If the judgment creditor does not know where the debtor has bank accounts or assets, then the creditor’s lawyer can conduct an examination in aid of execution. This is where the lawyer gets to ask the debtor specifics about where they bank, the bank account numbers, the location of their assets, whether they have dissipated or transferred any assets to avoid paying the judgment, etc. in order to garnish the debtor’s bank accounts and instruct the sheriff to seize and sell the debtor’s assets. Creditors must remember that there is a 2 year limitation period, and if you do not start a case within 2 years, you could be statute barred from starting one.

Crangle has represented both creditors and debtors. Sometimes a defendant has a very good reason for not paying an invoice. Perhaps the services rendered were unacceptable, faulty, delivered late or were not what was promised. In cases like that, Crangle will vigorously defend the lawsuit for you. A defendant may even want to counterclaim against the plaintiff by alleging that the deficient services provided by the plaintiff caused damages to the defendant, which the plaintiff should be liable for. Every case has its own unique set of facts, and it is the lawyer’s job to ask the client questions to get an entire understanding of the circumstances so that the case may be properly pursued or defended.

For debts of $35,000 or less, those cases go to the Small Claims Court. For higher damages, those cases go to a higher court. Crangle practices in jurisdictions throughout Ontario, including but not limited to Toronto, Brampton, Newmarket, Milton, Barrie, St. Catharines, Welland, Goderich, Ottawa, Kingston, etc.

Call or email for a free consultation. Contingency fee arrangements may be available in appropriate circumstances.

Has an insurance company improperly denied paying out your policy coverage? This may happen with all types of insurance, including life insurance, fire and flood insurance, etc. Crangle has taken on the big insurance companies before and forced them to pay out.

The relationship between an insurance company and its clients is supposed to be based on trust. The client trusts that if they purchase an insurance policy and make their monthly payments, then if they ever have to make an insurance claim, the insurance company will pay out the claim in accordance with the policy. The relationship is founded upon good faith. Unfortunately, it does not always work out that way. Once a claim is submitted to an insurance company, the insurance company will perform and investigation to determine if you answered all of the questions in the insurance application truthfully. The questions in the original insurance application are often vague and open to interpretation. If their investigation later finds that you did not answer one of their questions properly, or failed to disclose something that is an exclusion within the policy, then they will deny your insurance claim. That means you will have paid insurance in good faith for all of those years and now they deny your claim. This can be devastating. There is a reason why some of the biggest, most impressive looking buildings are owned by insurance companies. They make a lot of money and look for ways to avoid paying out an insurance claim.

If you have suffered damages due to a fire or flood, then you know how much the costs are to rebuild and remedy the property. Sometimes these damages are a lot more than you can afford, which is why you purchased the insurance policy in the first place. Insurance companies are masters of delay and deny. They appoint an adjuster to perform an investigation and keep you waiting while your life hangs in the balance. You need to hire an aggressive lawyer to fight for your interests.

If you are a beneficiary under a life insurance policy that was denied, the reason was likely because the insurance company performed an investigation to determine if there were any misrepresentations made in the original insurance application. The insurance company likely ordered the medical records of the policyholder and searched them to see if there was a medical condition was not disclosed in the application for insurance. If they find it then they will deny coverage.

Another reason insurance companies deny coverage is because of a missed payment. Perhaps the policy owner made payments for years, but then missed a payment. If the policy lapsed, insurance company will not pay out. However, our courts have required insurance companies to pay out in certain situations even if there has been a lapse.

Call or email for a free consultation. Contingency fee arrangements may be available in appropriate circumstances.

An injunction is a powerful legal remedy where the court orders a party to stop doing something. An application or motion to obtain an injunction is often brought on an urgent basis to prevent a party from doing something wrong, such as to prevent a departing employee from stealing confidential information and clients. The test for obtaining an injunction order is:

1. Whether there is a serious issue to be tried;
2. Whether irreparable harm may be suffered to the company seeking an injunction if it is not granted; and
3. Whether the balance of convenience favours granting the injunction;
Injunctions require the moving party to provide affidavit evidence to the court in support of the motion. There may be cross examinations on affidavits. The most common type of injunction is called an interlocutory injunction. This is essentially a temporary injunction that is granted for a certain period of time or until trial.

An Anton Piller order is another powerful tool in the civil litigator’s arsenal. It is a form of civil search warrant that displaces the normal rules on discovery of records. It enables the Applicant to attend at the premises of the defendant, without notice, and take possession of the records of the defendant before they can be moved, destroyed or used improperly by the Defendant. An Anton Piller order is especially important in the modern era of heavy dependence on computer technology, where documents are easily deleted, moved or destroyed. The release of a company’s confidential information into the public domain may drastically harm the company. Courts are careful in granting this relatively drastic form of injunction, however the court will equally give weight to the seriousness of the misuse of confidential information. To obtain an Anton Piller order, the plaintiff must demonstrate that it has a strong prima facie case. The legal test is:

1. The damage to the plaintiff of the defendant’s misconduct, potential or actual, must be very serious;
2. There must be convincing evidence that the defendant has in its possession the incriminating documents or things; and
3. The plaintiff must show that there is a real possibility that the defendant may destroy such material before the discovery process can do its work.

Call or email for a free consultation. Contingency fee arrangements may be available in appropriate circumstances.

Business is more global than ever. If you are outside of Canada but need to commence litigation in Ontario, then Crangle can explain how the court process works here, the various steps in a lawsuit, the expected timeline and costs. It is now easier than ever to communicate with foreign clients by way of videoconferencing. You may be thousands of miles away but we can communicate as if we are in the same room.

To start a lawsuit in Ontario, a plaintiff needs to file a Statement of Claim or Notice of Application. The Statement of Claim needs to be served on all of the named defendants, who then have 20 to 30 days serve their Statement of Defence. A defendant may Counterclaim against the plaintiff and can also assert a Crossclaim against other defendants for contribution and indemnity. There are many steps within the litigation process before a case gets to trial. The parties are required to exchange Affidavits of Documents and then conduct Examinations for Discovery. In certain jurisdictions like Toronto, there is Mandatory Mediation. This gives the parties an opportunity to try and settle with the assistance of a mediator. There is nothing preventing the parties from trying to settle at any time, but it often takes a Mediation to focus the parties towards trying to settle. If that is not successful then the case proceeds to a Pre-Trial Conference. This is often the first time the parties have actually sat before a judge.

If the case does not settle at the Pre-Trial conference then it will proceed to Trial. It is estimated that only approximately 5% of cases actually go all the way to Trial. The reason is because litigation can be expensive and it can take two years or more for a case to get to Trial.

Clients always want to know how much litigation will cost them. That is a difficult question to answer because the expenses depend on the particular circumstances of each case. For instance, if one of the parties is not providing full disclosure, as required, then a Motion may be brought to compel them to provide fuller disclosure. Some cases require numerous Motions before Trial to compel one party to do something, or prevent them from doing something. There are legal fees associated with each step. Trial is by far the most expensive step in a lawsuit because it may last days or even weeks, with numerous witnesses and even expert witnesses. A trial that is scheduled for five days usually takes approximately five days of preparation beforehand for a lawyer to get ready, prepare the Exhibit Books, prepare Examination Questions, prepare the Witnesses, perform legal research and prepare an Opening Statement. In addition to legal fees adding up, there is risk to going to Trial because the decision is going to be made by a Judge. Judges are just like regular people, only smarter. They may view a case differently than you do. They can also have a bad day like everyone else, or they can get something wrong. There is always some risk whenever you go to trial, because a Judge may view something that happened differently than you do. You should also know that the loser at trial usually has to pay a portion of the winner’s legal fees. If you do not agree with the decision of the Trial Judge, then you have 30 days to Appeal. There are costs associated with appealing as well. Usually you can only appeal a finding of law, not a finding of fact that a Judge makes.

Crangle is always conscious of trying to provide the most economical and efficient methods possible in order to provide value for the client.

If a case goes to trial, you want someone that is an experienced trial lawyer like Crangle. Believe it or not, there are civil litigators that have been lawyers many years and have never been conducted a trial. Crangle always tries to settle a case, but if it cannot be settled, then trial may be the only option left to obtain justice.

Whether it is a business dispute, employment law issue, shareholder dispute, partnership dispute, property dispute, real estate dispute, commercial landlord dispute, supplier problem, etc., then you need an experienced, aggressive lawyer that delivers value for your money. Crangle represents both companies and individuals in all areas of litigation, and has been a repeat Guest Speaker at the Ontario Bar Association. Crangle has successfully argued in the Superior Court of Justice, the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal, as well as in numerous administrative tribunals

Call or email for a free consultation. Contingency fee arrangements may be available in appropriate circumstances.

If a lawyer, dentist, real estate agent, engineer or investment advisor has acted negligently, then you may be entitled to compensation that is covered by their insurance policy. Even experienced professionals can make mistakes sometimes. Mistakes can be made unintentionally or because the professional was too busy to provide the level of skill that they should have exercised, or they improperly delegated work to a junior that was not qualified to handle the complications of the matter in question. Whatever the case may be, you should not have to pay the price for their negligence. People often have a sense of betrayal when they are the victim of a professional’s negligence because they hired and entrusted that professional to protect their interests.

In order to prove that a professional was negligent, it must be shown that they fell below the standard of care and skill that an ordinary professional would have exercised under similar circumstances. Cases involving an allegation of negligence against a professional often requires the plaintiff to hire a qualified expert in that area to provide a written opinion called an Expert Report. The Expert Report will set out the credentials of the expert that is been hired to write the report, the factual assumptions made in writing the report, and conclude with an opinion as to whether the professional in question was negligent. The plaintiff’s lawyer will then have to establish what the damages are as a result of the defendant’s negligence. Sometimes obtaining an Expert Report can be expensive. Choosing the right expert is important because they have to be qualified by a judge in order for their report to be admissible at trial. An expert is usually someone that is extremely experienced in their field, has outstanding academic credentials and published numerous articles and who perhaps has been qualified as an expert in court before. You do not want to hire someone to write an expert report that is unlikely to be qualified by the trial judge as an expert. The insurer representing the defendant will often obtain a responding Expert Report.

A professional negligence claim is often vigorously defended by the insurer even when the negligence may appear obvious. Crangle has obtained numerous settlements with respect to professional negligence claims.

Call or email for a free consultation. Contingency fee arrangements may be available in appropriate circumstances.