Materials and Resources

Textbook: Legal Research Step by Step 5th Ed. Software: Microsoft Office Handouts: How to Case Brief and How to Draft a Memo

Assignment Description

Factual Background:

Mr. Rooney has retained your firm to assist him with his Small Claims Court matter, in which he is the defendant against Ms. Marion, the plaintiff. Mr. Rooney wants to know if he will need to pay Ms. Marion any money. The parties were in a common law relationship for nine years and have three children. The relationship ended two years ago. Ms. Marion commenced a Small Claims Court action on January 1, 20XX and she is seeking compensation for family expenditures that were made by Mr. Rooney. Ms. Marion is suing Mr. Rooney for $25,000.00, claiming that this is his portion of joint debt from their life together. A review of these expenditures shows that most were made more than two years before the plaintiff's claim was commenced. Mr. Rooney states that he does not owe this money as he paid for other living expenses of the family and that each of them should be responsible for the debts in their own name. Ms. Marion claims that he used her credit cards for his personal items and not for items of the family.

Instructions: Using the information provided in the fact scenario above, prepare briefs for the cases provided. Using the information gathered from the case briefs, summarize you research into the form of a legal memorandum. Your completed submission should include the 3 case briefs and your legal memorandum.

Assignment Steps

1. Review the fact situation.
2. Locate the following cases using Canlii or Quicklaw:
   1. McCrone v. McCrone, [2008] O.J. No. 3127 (Sm. Cl. Ct.)
   2. Pilon v. Lavigne, 2016 ONSC 1965 (Div. Ct.)
   3. Mackenzie v. Asselin, [2009] O.J. No. 355 (Sm. Cl. Ct.)
   4. Review the guidelines for creating a case brief in the handout provided. Ensure that each case brief includes the following elements:
   5. Citation
   6. Procedural History
   7. Facts
   8. Issue(s)
   9. Decision
   10. Reasons for Decision
   11. Ratio:
3. Revisit the fact situation above and identify:
   1. the relevant facts; and
   2. the relevant issue(s)
4. Research the legal problem using the legal authorities provided to you (Statute and case law)
5. Predict the outcome after analyzing the facts and the laws