Municipal Liability
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OVERVIEW
The legal complexities faced by today’s municipalities are myriad. Our law firm’s Municipal Liability Group has extensive experience with the broad range of legal exposures faced by municipal bodies in the administration of their duties.
We are also well-versed in the corresponding insurance concerns. Our objective is to provide cost-effective, results-oriented service to insureds and insurers. We draw on our years of experience and depth of talent to take creative and innovative approaches toward successful solutions.
SERVICES
As recognized leaders in this field, our Municipal Liability Group represents municipalities in a wide variety of cases, including motor vehicle accidents involving road maintenance standards, sewer back-ups, and incidents at public facilities such as arenas and parks. We also have particular expertise in claims that arise from the location of underground utilities.
We are well qualified to litigate liability claims in the following areas:
- winter maintenance
- road maintenance, repair, and construction
- motor vehicle accidents
- Ontario Building Code inspections
- management of playgrounds, parks, and arenas
- utility management
- police and fire department operations
- land use and development
- employment
- human rights
- environmental liabilities
- defamation
Our lawyers have the further skills required to assist with the insurance coverage issues that often face municipalities as a result of liability claims. We readily provide opinions and representation with respect to the nuances of coverage grants, exclusions, and endorsements. This expertise links to a wide range of risk management services for our clients, including:
- drafting and interpreting municipal contracts and agreements
- drafting and interpreting insurance policies
- advising on the sufficiency of existing insurance coverage
- providing seminars and training programs
- reviewing by-laws
- advising on protocols and procedures for record-keeping
- advising with respect to media relations
- acting in quasi-criminal prosecutions
- providing a 24-hour emergency response team
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Causation And Standard Of Proof For A Hypothetical Pre-Trial Loss
First Published in Advocates Quarterly. This paper addresses whether the same principles regarding the “real and substantial possibility” standard of proof apply to a hypothetical past loss claim as they do to a hypothetical future loss claim, and the interplay between the two standards of proof applicable to hypothetical claims: balance of probabilities for the “but for” causation test, and “real and substantial possibility” for damages.
Minimum Maintenance Standards and Municipal Sidewalks - Case Study: Cromarty v. Waterloo (City)
In the recent decision of Cromarty v. Waterloo (City), Justice D.A. Broad of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dealt with the applicability of the Minimum Maintenance Standards2 as a defence to municipal liability in the case of a pedestrian trip and fall on a municipally-owned sidewalk.
Dispensing with dispensaries: Pot shops on every corner
You're walking to grab a bite to eat from your favourite sushi place down the street. It's a warm, clear night and you pass the local businesses which give your neighbourhood its sense of character. An organic coffee shop. A marijuana dispensary. A vintage bookstore. Another dispensary. Maybe the grocer has those strawberries you like. Yeah, that sounds good. Yet another dispensary. A fourth dispensary. A fifth dispensary – this one with a clever name. Were there always this many?