A million-dollar poker run sounds like the ultimate loophole, until the CRA decides it looks like a job. We talk with criminal defence lawyer Michael Mulligan about a Supreme Court of Canada leave decision that leaves standing a key ruling on poker winnings and Canadian income tax, and the real lesson it carries for […]
A locked gate at a kids’ camp sounds like a small-town nuisance until you trace it back to 1935 and forward to a trial date in 2027. We dig into a Greater Victoria dispute where companies say a historic public road, sometimes labelled Settlers Road or Glints Lake Road, should let them pass through […]
A single Supreme Court of Canada decision can quietly change the ground rules for thousands of breakups and this one just did. We unpack the Court’s creation of a new tort tied to intimate partner violence, described in terms of coercive control and coercive and controlling conduct, and we dig into what that really […]
One email reply can feel harmless until it turns into a $17,500 invoice. We start with a recruiter placement fee fight that asks a deceptively simple question: when do you actually have a contract? A law firm agrees to work with an external recruiter, receives resumes, interviews a candidate, and hires them, then gets […]
One decision can change a life, and another can quietly lock you into a guilty plea. We start with a heartbreaking civil claim tied to a mixed martial arts tournament and a kickboxing bout that leaves a 26-year-old UBC chemistry graduate in a permanent vegetative state. Because the event took place in space owned […]
A court system can have the best rules on paper and still grind to a halt when there is nowhere to hold people. We start with a fresh BC Supreme Court practice direction aimed at a problem that’s been building quietly across the province: accused people denied bail in communities with no correctional facility […]
A court decision appears online with almost everything blacked out: no registry, no lawyers, no location, no hearing date, and even the judge’s name is removed. All we’re left with is a disturbing question at the heart of Canadian criminal law: can someone become a confidential police informant without ever being clearly told they […]
A court can end up deciding the fate of an island by looking at the scars on cedar trees and counting the rings inside them. We dig into a new British Columbia Court of Appeal decision on Aboriginal title for Nootka Island off Vancouver Island, where the key legal question is what “sufficient use” […]
Messi-sized hype, premium ticket prices, then a last-minute announcement that the stars aren’t coming. We walk through the Vancouver Whitecaps class action that followed, including the consumer protection and contract claims that were pleaded and the court process that protects thousands of ticket buyers who never appear in court. If you’ve ever wondered how […]
Two neighbouring provinces are running a live experiment on professional regulation, and the results could shape how Canadians think about law societies, licensing bodies, and government power. We walk through British Columbia’s Legal Professions Act changes, including the shift in what the Law Society is being asked to prioritize, and how that ties into […]
#105 – 777 Blanshard St.,
Victoria BC, V8W 2G9.
© Copyright 2020 Mulligan Defence Lawyers