Halifax Lawyer Blog

Blogs written by lawyers at Highlander Law Group in Tantallon, Nova Scotia for people in Halifax with an interest in Real Estate Purchase and Sale, Corproate, Litigation, Debt Collection, Divorce, Probate, Wills, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Child support, Spousal Support, Custody, Migration, Debt Collection, Builders Liens, Estate Planning, Trademarks, Copyright and other Intellectual Property issues. .

October 25, 2021

Do I Need a Vaccine Policy for my Nova Scotia Business?

October 25, 2021/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

On October 6th Premier Houston announced that all Nova Scotia Public Servants must be vaccinated by November 30th. Premier Houston followed this announcement by urging private businesses to create their own vaccine mandates.

After these recent announcements on vaccine mandates you may wonder if your business needs a vaccine policy.

All businesses are different and there is not be a “one size fits all” policy that works for every business.

May 20, 2019

Nova Scotia’s “Statute of Limitations” – the time limit for filing a claim in court

May 20, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

Did you know there were time limits to file a claim in court? Well, there is! Depending on the type of claim you have, the amount of time you have to file can vary substantially. This period of time is called a “limitation period”. In Nova Scotia, the limitation period is determined by the type of legislation that your claim falls under. If the legislation does not set out a time period, then the Limitations of Actions Act will outline the time limits to follow.

February 18, 2019

What Do Happens at my Nova Scotia Corporation's Annual General Meeting

February 18, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

Incorporation is only the beginning of the process, corporations in truth require continuous attention. One important order of business a corporation is required to conduct is an Annual General Meeting or an “AGM”. A corporations governing legislation will set out the time frame within which an AGM is required to be held. According to both the Canada Business Corporations Act and the Nova Scotia Companies Act, an AGM is mandated to take place at minimum once a year

January 16, 2019

Grammar Matters: Why Precision Writing Is so Important in Legal Documents in Nova Scotia

January 16, 2019/ Dianna Rievaj

A dairy company in Maine loses a multi-million-dollar case over a missing comma in the state’s employment legislation that would have otherwise prevented drivers from receiving overtime pay. Rogers loses a million dollar case against Bell over a comma only to have the decision overturned based on comma placement in the French version of their contract.

December 20, 2018

Prevent Heartache By Having a Lawyer Review Your Nova Scotian Commercial Lease Part II – Leasehold Improvements

December 20, 2018/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

Leasehold improvements include anything that needs to be done to the space that you are going to lease in order to make it fit for your purposes. Your lease should outline who is responsible for making the changes, who is paying for the changes, and what the timeline is for getting it done. It should also make clear who is the decision maker with respect to the leasehold improvements. For example, if new flooring is to be laid do you get to decide the specific type or does the landlord.

August 07, 2018

What's the difference between Federal and Nova Scotia Provincial Incorporation?

August 07, 2018/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

Incorporation is the act of making your business a corporation and is one of several forms of business ownership you can have in Nova Scotia and across Canada. When you incorporate and separate the owners from the company itself, your company is considered a person under the law. It will have the ability to have its own money, take out a loan, sue or be sued, contract with other persons and even be convicted of crimes. There are two different ways you can incorporate, federally or provincially. There are advantages and disadvantages to both federal and provincial incorporation, and you need to consider the type of business you have now, and what you would like it to look like in the future in order to make the best choice for your company.

July 26, 2018

How to Register a Builder’s Lien in Nova Scotia

July 26, 2018/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

Placing a Builder’s Lien in Nova Scotia is an option available to contractors like roofers, plumbers, electricians, landscapers and carpenters who have done work to improve a property and are concerned that they are not going to get paid. A Builders’ Lien is not available in all circumstances, but the definition is pretty broad. You do not even have to have completed the work you contracted to do to place a Lien.

July 09, 2018

What should be in my Nova Scotia Shareholder Agreement

July 09, 2018/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

A business run by multiple partners through a corporation in which you are all shareholders should have a shareholder’s agreement. Yes, even if you are all friends or family. In fact, it is perhaps even more important in that case! Business ventures sometimes fail and even the closest of friends can fight over how a business is being run. A shareholder’s agreement allows you and your partners to agree on many contentious points in advance of any problems arising while cooler heads still prevail.

June 25, 2018

Why Should My Nova Scotia Contracts Be in Writing?

June 25, 2018/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

Verbal contracts are technically enforceable. You can go to court and obtain a judgement against someone who doesn’t respect a verbal agreement. So why bother getting it in writing? Here are a couple of basic reasons why everyone should use a written agreement instead of relying on a verbal agreement:

May 28, 2018

Director's Liability: How Can a Director in Nova Scotia Ensure They Are Meeting Their Obligations?

May 28, 2018/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

The role of directors in a company and the liability they can incur by their actions is not often the subject of mainstream news reporting. It sometimes comes up when discussing corruption in large multinational companies. However, a recent local court decision has shone a light on this infrequently discussed topic.

April 16, 2018

Copyright Tips for Small Business in Nova Scotia

April 16, 2018/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

One of the items on my ever growing “To-Do” list was to write a blog post outlining the copyrighting issues that the average small business owner should be aware of. And like a gift, sent directly to my inbox, came this exceptionally well written guest blog post by my colleague Corinne Boudreau of Legal Essentials Inc. via my subscription to Linda Daley’s blog ‘Work better, not harder’. As the saying goes, there’s no point trying to re-invent the wheel so instead of attempting to write basically the same thing, I decided to share her post instead:

March 26, 2018

Prevent Heartache By Having a Lawyer Review Your Nova Scotia Commercial Lease – The Rent Increase Control Clause

March 26, 2018/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

I recently came across a story in the news highlighting the unfortunately common situation where a small business owner is facing financial disaster as a result of terms in their commercial lease they didn’t fully understand when they signed. Cash flow challenges are reality for most small business, particularly those in the start up phase. As a result, many view spending money to have a lawyer review what appears to be a standard lease is a luxury they can’t afford.

September 18, 2017

To Incorporate or Not to Incorporate, That Is the Question.

September 18, 2017/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

Whether it is time to incorporate is a question often pondered by business people. There are two primary reasons to incorporate a business:

1. Your business can realize tax savings through utilizing a corporate structure; and

2. Your business activities are risky and you would like to place this risk on the corporation’s shoulders instead of your own.

September 01, 2017

What does "Accommodating" Breastfeeding Employees Really Mean?

September 01, 2017/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

One of your valued employees just announced that she is pregnant. Undoubtedly this will have an impact on your business. Among the other pregnancy related conversations you should have with your employee, you should also be discussing breastfeeding – specifically, that you are aware that, as an employer, you have an obligation (and are willing) to accommodate the employee’s choice to breastfeed. Many employers don’t know what ‘accommodating’ involves or even why they should be forced to accommodate an employee who wishes to continue to breastfeed upon return to work (thinking, can’t they just give their baby some formula?)

June 05, 2017

Be King of the CASL

June 05, 2017/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

Canada has some of the strongest anti-SPAM legislation in the world. Starting on July 1, 2017, it is going to get even tougher. In 2014 the Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL pronounced “castle”) became law in Canada. The purpose of the law is to protect people from getting commercial messages they do not want.

February 06, 2017

Who's On Your Team?

February 06, 2017/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

If this past Super Bowl has taught us anything, it is that with the right team, anything is possible. The same is true in the business world and so one of the first questions I will ask a new business client is: who is on your team? The most common response I receive is something like “I am just a small business” or “it is just me”. Although I understand what you mean (certainly you run the day to day operations), I encourage my clients to think a little broader and to work at building a support network that will allow them to grow and protect their business in the long-term.

January 12, 2017

A New Year's Resolution for your Business

January 12, 2017/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

Every January there are an infinite number of blog posts on how to make or stick to your personal New Years Resolutions. But what if your business could write its own resolutions for 2017, what would they be? I don’t think many businesses would be begging for more of your time – entrepreneurs are notorious for devoting all of their time to the business. But is that precious time used effectively?

As a litigator, I meet far too many small business owners who were so busy trying to move their business forward that they didn’t notice they never made time to stop and protect the business they were working so hard to build – until it was too late. The potential points of failure for a small business are unfortunately many. Leases, employees, personal situations, intellectual property, product malfunction, and weak (or absent) contracts to name a few.