Areas of Focus:

Question: What kinds of disputes or wrongdoings might be eligible to be litigated in Ontario when someone needs to take legal action?

Answer: In Ontario, disputes that may be litigated typically fall into common categories like unpaid invoices or loan repayment (business and commerce), construction or renovation defects and project delays (construction and renovation), misleading or unfair business practices affecting consumers (consumer protection), disagreements about what counts as a contract breach and the remedies that follow (contract breach), issues arising from the employment relationship (employment law), coverage disputes with insurers (insurance coverage), harm caused while property is in someone else’s care (bailee liability), disagreements over property and real estate transactions (realty dispute issues), and claims for tortious conduct such as negligence or defamation (tort). If you want help identifying the right litigation path and the kind of evidence and precedent research that usually matters, Marketing.Legal™ offers digital marketing for lawyers, paralegals, and more across Ontario, helping clients connect with experienced help faster; call (800) 551-5751 to get started.

Understanding the Types of Issues/Wrongdoings that May Be Litigated

The body of law is much too large for any individual person to ever know in full.  Indeed, even highly experienced judges with decades of experience will be without full knowledge of the law and are therefore, usually, assigned to handle a narrow focus of cases that are within areas of law that are familiar to the judge.  Even so, judges will routinely expect representatives for the parties to perform precedent research and then provide submissions and present argument based upon the findings of that research.

“... I include myself among those who had never heard of the tort of barratry ...”
~ C.A. Osborne A.C.J.O.
McIntyre Estate v. Ontario, 2001 CanLII 7972 (ON CA)

It is common for adjudicators to be assigned matters within defined subject areas based on experience and familiarity with the issues that most often arise in those proceedings.  In a similar way, legal practitioners tend to focus their work within particular practice areas that align with the types of disputes they most frequently handle across courts, tribunals, and other decision making bodies.  While every case turns on its own facts, legal systems have developed over centuries, and truly novel legal issues are relatively uncommon, meaning established legal principles and precedent will usually exist to guide the analysis and outcome.  Engaging representation that is closely aligned with the specific issues in dispute can improve strategic focus, enhance the quality of legal research and argument, promote procedural efficiency, reduce unnecessary costs, and strengthen the overall likelihood of a well-reasoned and favourable result.