ABLawg

By: Jonnette Watson Hamilton

PDF Version: What is the Legal Effect of an Unenforceable Agreement in an Unjust Enrichment Claim?

Case commented on: Lemoine v Griffith, 2014 ABCA 46

The recent decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal in Lemoine v Griffith is interesting for what it tells us, in the context of a claim of unjust enrichment, about the legal effects of a prenuptial agreement that was both found and admitted to be unenforceable because of undue influence and a lack of independent legal advice. According to the majority, Justices Ronald Berger and Clifton O’Brien, once the trial judge found the agreement unenforceable for those reasons — and the appellant abandoned his challenge to that finding — the prenuptial agreement was not a factor in either supplying a juristic reason for any enrichment or evidence of the parties’ intentions. However, despite the fact that the unenforceability of the prenuptial agreement was not an issue, in his dissent Justice Frans Slatter would have overturned the finding of undue influence, holding (at para 103) that the “trial judgment cannot stand.” While that is not the only point of disagreement between the majority and the dissent, it is the point that I will focus on in this comment.

Read More

Law Society of Alberta Responds on TWU Law School Issue

By Jennifer Koshan

On March 3, 2014

In Ethics and the Legal Profession, Human Rights, Legal Education

By: Jennifer Koshan

PDF Version: Law Society of Alberta Responds on TWU Law School Issue

Back in February we posted a letter sent by signatories from the University of Calgary and University of Alberta law schools to the Law Society of Alberta concerning the process for approval of Trinity Western University (TWU)’s proposed new law school and the admission of TWU graduates as students at law in Alberta. We asked the Law Society to reconsider its delegation of decision making power to the Federation of Law Societies, or in the alternative, to work together with other Canadian law societies to consider amending the approval criteria to address the issues raised by TWU Law School and its Community Covenant. We received a response from Law Society of Alberta President Kevin Feth QC late last week. The letter:

Oral Argument Hints that Supreme Court May Trim Back U.S. Industrial Source Greenhouse Gas Regulations

By James Coleman

On February 26, 2014

In Environmental

By: James Coleman

PDF Version: Oral Argument Hints that Supreme Court May Trim Back U.S. Industrial Source Greenhouse Gas Regulations

Report Commented On: Oral argument in Utility Air Regulatory Group v Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Utility Air Regulatory Group v Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in which petitioners challenged the EPA’s “Prevention of Significant Deterioration” (PSD) regulations for stationary industrial sources of greenhouse gases. These regulations, finalized in 2010, require sources that emit over 100,000 tons of greenhouse gases to obtain a PSD permit and adopt the “best available control technology” for every pollutant that they emit, including greenhouse gases. These regulations have been closely watched in Canada, especially given Prime Minister Harper’s suggestion that he would like Canada to move in tandem with U.S. greenhouse gas regulation.

More Uncertainty on the Test for Discrimination under Human Rights Legislation

By Jennifer Koshan

On February 24, 2014

In Constitutional, Human Rights, Labour/Employment

By: Jennifer Koshan

PDF Version: More Uncertainty on the Test for Discrimination under Human Rights Legislation

Case commented on: Bish v Elk Valley Coal Corporation, 2013 ABQB 756

I have written previous posts on ABlawg critiquing the influence of section 15 of the Charter in creating an overly onerous approach to the test for discrimination under human rights legislation in Alberta (see here and here). In late December, another human rights decision showing this influence was released in Bish v Elk Valley Coal Corporation. Unfortunately, Justice Peter Michalyshyn of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench gave short shrift to recent developments out of the Supreme Court of Canada on the appropriate test for discrimination. He also declined to follow the Supreme Court’s recent pronouncements on the appropriate standard of review in this context. The Bish case is now under appeal, and one has to hope that the Alberta Court of Appeal will provide some consistency with recent Supreme Court decisions in its appeal decision.

Remembering Professor George Anastaplo

By Maureen Duffy

On February 21, 2014

In Constitutional

By: Maureen T. Duffy

PDF Version: Remembering Professor George Anastaplo

Since I have become a law professor, I often find myself remembering my own law school experiences, as comparisons are unavoidable. Because I teach Constitutional Law, I have been reminded recently of my own time as a Constitutional Law student in a class taught by Professor George Anastaplo at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. I have been planning for some time to write to him to tell him that I am now teaching Constitutional Law in Canada, and to thank him for inspiring me.