Professional Paralegal For Small Claims

Affordable & accessible legal help, starting with just $1

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Request Confidential Consultation with Paralegal.

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Explain to the paralegal your circumstances and the outcome you wish to achieve by taking a legal avenue.

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Let the paralegal assess complexity of the legal circumstances and present you with options to consider.

When Contract is Formed

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Generally, perception of contract is one that is a written document, witnessed and signed. However, Courts look at more than just a piece of paper when deciding whether a contractual relationship exists and what that relationship entails. As such, emails, text messages, and verbal exchanges often find their way into evidence, and at times, unexpectedly binding parties into obligations they had no intention of creating.

Two recent cases have seen appellate courts closely examining the significance of email exchanges in business relationships. One of these cases, Cana v Standard Innovation, 2018 ONCA 145, was brought before the Ontario Court of Appeal to determine if multiple agreements were formed through various email exchanges between the parties involved.

At Trial, Court found that there was no agreement, partially overturned by Ontario Court of Appeal. Implicit in both of their decisions are the principles established by the Supreme Court of Canada in Sattva Capital Corp. v Creston Moly Corp. 2014 SCC 53. A contract should be interpreted by objectively determining the intention of the parties at the time that they entered into the contract in light of the factual matrix of the surrounding circumstances. In the Cana case, the two courts arrived at different conclusions. Each court agreed that the main factors to determine contract formation are: the wording and content of the contract, where one exists; the conduct of the parties; the factual or business context at the time of formation; and lastly, and less importantly, other evidence that may help solve uncertainties.

The difference in their conclusions and the palpable error of the trial court was not in finding that the email exchange overcame the written contract, but in forgetting to apply the principle of agreements signed by counterpart. The trial judge characterized the email exchanges of partially signed copies as "two unique offers." The Court of Appeal disagreed and found there to be one, executed agreement signed in counterpart.

Ironically, there was a fully executed document, but in Cana's own emails they requested a clean copy after this executed copy was signed. The negotiations on major terms, contained in some of these emails, continued. The Court took this, and other evidence to mean, that Cana themselves did not consider it an enforceable agreement. At the end of this analysis, the Court concluded that there was no written contract, no conduct to support an agreement and the factual context evidenced an ongoing negotiation. Furthermore, the Court found that the email exchange was too uncertain to support the formation of an agreement and no one email accidentally bound the parties.

Ontario Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's decision regarding the first agreement, found in written form, and upheld its findings regarding the second agreement, through the email exchange, while upholding its findings concerning the second agreement. This discrepancy in the Court of Appeal's rulings highlights the factors that the Court deems significant when evaluating the role of email communications in the formation and interpretation of contracts.

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Breach of Contract

It is not uncommon that breaching a contract can be more economical, or otherwise beneficial rather than fulfilling it. An innocent party to a breach of a contract may have both remedies and obligations to minimize the damages caused by the other party. Contracts often contain provisions as to what each party is entitled to in the event that a breach occurs, while other instances may qualify for equity relief. Courts consider the manner in which the breach has occurred when deciding whether awards of special damages and costs are appropriate. Emails, text messages, and verbal exchanges often find their way into evidence, and at times, unexpectedly binding parties into obligations they had no intention of creating.

How Paralegal Can Help

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A paralegal can represent your legal interests and help prepare legal documents the same way a lawyer can.

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Paralegals are licensed and regulated by Law Society and are required to carry insurance and meet standards of professional competency each year.

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Many legal claims do not require complicated procedures but it is still safer to use a trained professional paralegal to complete tricky forms and write legal claims.

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Paralegal fees are affordable for most people, so choosing a paralegal is a smart choice. In many cases, the paralegal will be able to offer a flat fee to finish the case which means no hourly billing for correspondences and tasks of administrative nature.

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Simplified rules and procedures may create the impression that the person is capable of doing their case on their own, but in fact, there are many times where people lost their case because they did not seek professional paralegal.

Practice Areas

Breach Of Contract, Negligence, Damages, Goods Not Delivered, Services Not Delivered, Warranties, Insurance, Condominium, Storage, Vehicle, Injury/Dog Bite/Medical, Wrongful Dismissal, Renovations Disputes, Unpaid Fees, Privacy, Property, Gifts, Defects, Travel, Rent, Tenant, Tenancy, Occupants, Landlord, Termination, Noise, Parking, Driving, Consumers, Garnishment, Writs, Liens.