Employment Law
I assist and represent individuals in the areas of:- Review of, advise on and negotiate employment agreements and independent contractor agreements;
- Advise on, negotiate and, if necessary, go to court on the issues of wrongful termination of employment and termination pay;
- Advise on rights and obligations of employers and employees;
- Review and advise on confidentiality, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements.
Real Estate
Purchase, sale and re-finance of real estate.I represent individuals and banks in purchase and sale of residential, agricultural and commercial real estate.
It is generally advisable to engage a lawyer before removing all "subject to" clauses or conditions. Once they are removed, the contract of purchase and sale is firm and the purchaser will not be able to get out of it without serious financial repercussions. I offer purchaser-clients to review the contract of purchase and sale, review encumbrances registered on title.
Also, I review and provide advice on condominium bylaws and condominium documents.
Wills and Estates
I advise my clients on estate planning strategies and prepare wills, powers of attorney and personal directives.I recommend obtaining all three of the above documents. the will comes into force on the day of death. The power of attorney and personal directive are necessary if the person is alive but does not have capacity because of illness or injury. The period of incapacity can be short or fairly long. If there is no power of attorney in place, the relatives of the incapacitated person will have to obtain a court order appointing someone a guardian. It may take over three months and cost over $3,000 to obtain such a court order. I can assist those who find themselves in this situation, but i recommend to obtain a power of attorney ahead of time.
A personal directive allows another person to make medical, healthcare and personal decisions on behalf of an adult who has lost capacity.
Family Law
We do not do family litigation. We do assist individuals by providing independent legal advice on separation agreements prepared by other lawyers and/or drafting and negotiating separation agreements.I believe that a disagreement can be resolved through negotiation if the parties are prepared to compromise. A negotiated outcome allows parties to control the outcome rather than have a judge (who is a stranger to all parties) to impose his or her binding decision.
I have advised and represented individuals on many issues that arise during the family breakdown, including:
- Valuation and division or buy out of the family business.
- Pension valuation.
- Spousal support.