Did you know you can officiate your friends’ and family members’ marriage ceremonies in Alberta? For a long time, only appointed civil marriage commissioners could officiate weddings in Alberta. The provincial government recently changed its policies to allow members of the public to perform these … [Read more...]
Getting a Fair Say: Adjudicative bodies and the duty of fairness
“Administrative bodies” play a critical role in many areas of the law – from human rights to municipal planning to labour and employment. Maybe you have heard of the Human Rights Commission, the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board, the Labour Relations Board, the Immigration and Refugee Board … [Read more...]
Retaining a Lawyer
You have asked your friends, looked at websites and finally settled on a lawyer who seems to be a good fit for your case. But before you become a client of that lawyer, you must first retain them. Unfortunately, retaining a lawyer is not always straightforward. The process involves checking whether … [Read more...]
Mechanisms for Relief from Contractual Obligations in the Realm of COVID-19
The novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) has directly impacted society as a whole. But what really is COVID-19? It is a member of the coronavirus family of viruses. When virologists first studied this class of viruses, they used microscopy to view these viruses. The viruses appeared to have a faint halo, … [Read more...]
Can I Be Liable for the Actions of My Volunteer?: Vicarious liability and volunteers
In many volunteer-driven organizations, volunteer coordinators or boards may hold the view that the organization is not liable for negligent or intentionally injurious actions of its volunteers. This can sometimes be the benefit of using volunteers. They are not employees and, therefore, the same … [Read more...]
The Reasonable Person
The reasonable person standard in tort law looks at whether a person's unintentional or careless actions mean they are liable for someone else's injuries. Tort law is an umbrella field of law, which aims to correct injustices that have happened between individuals. The courts assess whether the … [Read more...]
