Join hosts Ted Brook, Partner, and Erin Brown, Senior Associate, of Norton Rose Fulbright as they interview lawyers and industry leaders from key sectors, questioning the trends, issues and opportunities across Canada’s evolving legal landscape. Conversations will bring both a global perspective and a litigator's instinct for issue spotting to keep your business risk-ready.
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Heading to trial and feeling the nerves mount? Never fear, this episode of Disputed is here.
Hosts Ted Brook and Erin Brown sit down with commercial litigators, Stephen Taylor and Tiffany O’Hearn Davies from our Toronto office, to share their top ten tips for winning civil trials in Canadian courts.
Drawing on years of experience navigating complex disputes, Tiffany and Stephen discuss what true preparedness looks like, from organizing evidence and supporting your witnesses to managing tone and reading the courtroom. They explore how to balance fact with impact and explain why success in the courtroom depends on focus, strategy, and civility. Together, they highlight why winning a trial is not only about theatrics but about meticulous preparation, calculated judgment, and unwavering professionalism.
This episode is accredited 0.8 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.8 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Guests:
Tiffany O’Hearn Davies
Stephen Taylor
19 Aug 2025TRANSCRIPT
Contempt and Consent: A Case Study in Navigating Regulatory Boundaries
Complying with a court order is a serious undertaking. Do it wrong and you may find yourself facing contempt of court.
In this episode, hosts Ted Brook (https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en/people/131670) and Erin Brown (https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en/people/124515) unpack an intriguing case involving a rare finding of contempt against an Ontario regulator. Joining them in the conversation are guests Chris Muir (https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-ca/people/144445), a litigation partner in the Toronto office, and David Litwin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-litwin-633032a5/?originalSubdomain=ca), Senior Counsel at the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority. Together, they take a detailed look at the case, the key players and the contested conduct that triggered the contempt motion, breaking down the legal standard for civil contempt and debating whether the circumstances of this case warranted the severe result. Finally, they share broader takeaways for regulatory lawyers and regulators, including the importance of clarity in court orders, consistency in regulatory decision-making, and strategies for avoiding worst-case scenarios such as a contempt proceeding.
This episode is accredited 0.67 substantive hours in Ontario, 0.67 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Guests:
Chris Muir
David Litwin
25 Mar 2025
Navigating Tariffs: Weathering the Storm of Trade Uncertainty
Tariffs are a polarizing topic in today’s economic landscape. In this episode, host Erin Brown takes on the role of guest alongside Martin Masse, Senior Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright’s Ottawa office, as they join Ted to dive deep into the world of tariffs and trade disputes. Together, they demystify tariffs—explaining how they function and why they matter.
In this conversation, Erin and Martin provide the historical context around Canada-US trade relations and share how imported goods are classified, and how tariffs are calculated and applied to goods. With businesses facing financial and contractual risks in the year ahead, Erin and Martin highlight the importance of reviewing supply agreements, updating legal clauses, and reassessing trade strategies to mitigate the impact of tariffs. Beyond individual business concerns, the conversation broadens to the larger economic implications—including the push for trade diversification and the evolving role of inter-provincial trade within Canada. Finally, Erin and Martin share practical steps businesses can take to navigate trade uncertainty and prepare for the future.
This episode is accredited 0.58 substantive hours in Ontario and 0.58 substantive hours in British Columbia.
Guests:
Martin Masse
Inside a recent episode
Ten Tips for Winning Your Next Trial
Published 24 Oct 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Okay, let's get to it, guys. So you have 10 tips for us. Stephen, starting with you, what is number one? What is your number one tip? So number one tip, and I do it not just sort of in random order, but I think this is the most important tip from my perspective. And it's that... Preparation is absolutely critical. Preparation, preparation, preparation. It actually goes to one of the points when we're talking at the outset of some of the differences between sort of a trial and other forms of decision making. When you have live witnesses there in front of a judge... You need to be able to go in there with an expectation of what your witnesses are going to say, what the witnesses on the other side are going to say, being able to box in and be ready for anything that might come up. […]
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