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62013.05Understanding how to anticipate and gauge damages is key for any practitioner in employment law. This paper provides an overview of the issues to consider in a damages assessment, including reasonable notice and valuation, economic factors, additional damages (punitive, exemplary, and aggravated), mitigation, the duty of honesty and good faith, and other causes of action. References to relevant case law are included throughout the paper.This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Employment Law Fundamentals program in Edmonton on October 5, 2016 and in Calgary on October 13, 2016.
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62314.04Attempting to pierce the corporate veil can be risky. This paper explores the history of piercing the corporate veil and some key considerations that lawyers should keep in mind when they contemplate doing so. This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Directors and Officers: Duties, Liabilities, Coverages program in Edmonton on January 26, 2023.
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62027.03This paper addresses boilerplate provisions in contracts. It highlights 10 common boilerplate provisions, and discusses why to include or exclude them in an agreement. It also provides sample boilerplate clauses. The provisions discussed include: recitals and attachments; heading, articles, and sections; entire agreement; no waiver; severability; assignments; governing law; counterparts; time of essence; and notice. This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Contract Review and Clause Negotiation seminar held in Edmonton on February 15, 2017 and in Calgary on February 23, 2017.
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62013.02This resource identifies 10 considerations for employment contracts, and provides supporting case citations for each. Items discussed include: offer and acceptance, crystallization of terms, terminating a contract, probationary periods, the Employment Standards Code, changing a contract, among others.This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Employment Law Fundamentals program in Edmonton on October 5, 2016 and in Calgary on October 13, 2016.
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62484.04This paper explores vendor protection considerations that are often overlooked, or if they are considered, they may be insufficiently done so. Topics addressed include: helping clients manage their expectations, earn outs, liability of limited partners in other jurisdictions, securing unpaid dividends and redemption amounts, vendor take back arrangements, entire agreement clauses, releasing directors, T4 tax slips, wire transfers, paying out encumbrances, differing time zones, ownership of emails and privileged communications, association/loss of CCPC status, fraud, warranty expirations, widow/widower clauses, indemnity limitations, minute books, non-competition agreements or clauses, and more. These materials are part of a collection presented at LESA’s Legal Strategies in Mergers & Acquisitions program in Edmonton on April 29, 2025.
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62147.02This paper discusses both evaluative mediation and interest based mediation. It also explores how a lawyer’s role in mediation differs from that in litigation, requiring a shift in attitude from an adversarial approach to a mutual problem solving approach. The paper discusses how to prepare for mediation and draft a mediation brief; it also provides practical tools, including a mediation plan template and a sample issues/interests worksheet. This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Alternative Dispute Resolution program in Calgary on February 19, 2020 and in Edmonton on February 25, 2020.
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61918.04This author provides insight into common accounting and tax principles that lawyers, acting as business advisors to agricultural operations, often apply to proactive planning. Some of the topics covered include drought deferral, restricted farm losses, tax planning opportunities, and death of a tax payer. Precedents attached. This paper was presented at the Family Farm Issues program in May 2014.
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71_27_03This paper outlines the issues a lawyer faces when acting for a lender in a residential real estate deal. The paper is intended to provide a reference guide for day-to-day practice in order to better serve a lending client and avoid potential liability, including a discussion on mortgage fraud. This paper was presented at the Real Estate Boot Camp program which was held in Edmonton on October 13, 2010 and in Calgary on October 20, 2010.
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61961.02This paper, written by a prominent practitioner in the areas of technology, intellectual property and privacy, offers practical advice for drafters of online and cloud computing agreements. He discusses the advantages of having an ADR clause in an internet-based agreement, why a jurisdiction-governing clause is important, and the limitations of those clauses. References included. This paper is part of a collection presented at LESA’s Technology Contracts program in September, 2015.
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62379.01Good legal writing is vital to be able to clearly communicate with or advocate for clients. An overriding purpose in both writing and drafting is to communicate: to convey a message from one’s mind to the readers. This paper focuses on clarity, concision, and engagement. Topics include history of legal writing, plain language, plain language writing guidelines, contract language, and artificial intelligence in legal drafting. This paper was presented at LESA’s Drafting Effective Contracts webinar on January 31, 2024.
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62484.05This paper discusses common issues arising in private mergers and acquisitions, where owner-manager sellers have implemented tax-planned structures, and the benefits available under properly executed and maintained ownership structures. One primary case study will be used to explain the purpose of a simplified but common tax-planned structure and the benefits derived by sellers. A secondary case study shows a non-tax-planned structure to juxtapose against the primary case study, illustrating the disadvantages of not engaging in tax planning in advance of a contemplated sale. These materials are part of a collection presented at LESA’s Legal Strategies in Mergers & Acquisitions program in Edmonton on April 29, 2025.
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62208.01Lawyers, like other professionals, are often asked to participate on non-profit boards, which often involves providing that board with the presumed legal skills and legal guidance for board governance. This paper examines legal and governance structures of not-for-profit organizations. It further explores legal duties and obligations, potential liability (and how to avoid it), and key considerations for bylaws. This paper was presented at LESA’s Board Governance for Not-for-Profit Organizations webinar on February 2, 2021.