SHIFTING MAINTENANCE OBLIGATIONS TO TENANT

Residential Landlord and Tenant Law in Ontario, including under the current Residential Tenancies Act, has long held that a landlord is responsible for maintaining a property notwithstanding any lease terms to the contrary. The law provides that a term of a lease that is contrary to the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act is void. In a legally significant development, the Ontario Superior of Court of Justice has held that a landlord may require a tenant, in a lease with that tenant, to maintain the property with respect to snow clearing and that such a clause is not void as against the provisions of the Tenant Protection Act (predecessor to Residential Tenancies Act) which places the maintenance burden on the landlord. The application of the principle of this case will be interesting to follow with respect to more general maintenance requirements within residential apartments. Is this the beginning of residential landlords being able to shift the burden of property maintenance to tenants as a condition of leasing to them? See Montgomery v. Van 2009 CarswellOnt 182. Michael K.E. Thiele, Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyers

ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND CONTINGENCY FEES

Michael Thiele is today celebrating his 12th year of being called to the Bar of Ontario.  It has been 12 very good years of helping clients fight their cases and obtaining justice for them. Upon being being asked how access to justice has changed over that time Mr. Thiele noted that contingency fees--no fee until you win or settle-- as offered by Plant Quinn Thiele LLP were not actually a permitted practice in Ontario in 1997.  The change in the law allows Plant Quinn Thiele's personal injury client's  to pursue cases even though they do not have the money for litigation expenses. Plant Quinn Thiele LLP assumes the risk of those costs for the client and only gets reimbursed from a settlement or judgment.  This change in the law is a tremendous increase in access to justice for clients of Plant Quinn Thiele LLP.  Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyers-Plant Quinn Thiele LLP-- www.pqtlaw.com

PLANT QUINN THIELE LLP Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyers EXPANDING DOG ATTACK LIABILITY

PLANT QUINN THIELE LLP EXPANDING DOG ATTACK LIABILITY

Mr. Mikolaj Grodzki, counsel at Plant Quinn Thiele LLP, while prosecuting a dog bite case successfully attributed liability to a corporate landlord for failing to supervise and control a vicious dog belonging to a tenant in its building. Expanding the liability for this dog attack was especially important because the dog owner was judgment proof and uninsured. Successfully attributing liability to the landlord gave Mr. Grodzki’s client much needed and deserved compensation. Ottawa Personal Injury Lawyers - Plant Quinn Thiele LLP – http://www.pqtlaw.com/