Employment law. Distinguish an employee from an independent contractor: courts weigh control, ownership of tools, chance of profit/risk of loss, and integration into the business, not just the label. The distinction affects who owns work product, vicarious liability, and tax. An employee owes a duty of fidelity (good faith, not to compete against or misuse the employer's confidential information). An indefinite employee dismissed without just cause is owed reasonable notice (or pay in lieu); dismissal without it is wrongful dismissal (a breach-of-contract claim about notice, not about the right to dismiss).
Intellectual property protects different things by different means:
- Patent: protects new, useful, non-obvious inventions (a time-limited monopoly in exchange for public disclosure).
- Copyright: protects the expression of original works (drawings, reports, software), not the underlying idea; arises automatically.
- Trademark: protects marks (names, logos) distinguishing goods/services.
- Industrial design: protects the visual/ornamental features of an article.
- Trade secret: protects confidential information through secrecy and contract, with no fixed term.
Work created by an employee in the course of employment generally belongs to the employer; an independent contractor's IP turns on the contract, so address ownership expressly.
Dispute resolution. Litigation is public, binding, and appealable but slow and costly. Arbitration is a private, binding process before a chosen neutral: faster and confidential, with limited appeal. Mediation (a facilitated, non-binding negotiation) helps parties reach their own settlement. Construction liens give those who supply work or materials to a project a statutory charge against the land to secure payment. Finally, professional liability ("errors & omissions") insurance funds the defence and indemnity of negligence claims and is commonly mandated for practising firms.