John A. Olah John A. Olah practises Civil Litigation. He specializes in complex tort litigation ranging from cases involving product liability, a wide variety of sports cases and the liability of hotels, resorts and bars. Contact He is involved in private international law cases as well as business 416.306.1818 litigation matters. [email protected] Call to Bar He received his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in 1970 from York 1975 University (Glendon College) and his Bachelor of Law from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1973. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in Education 1975. LL.B., 1973 Osgoode Hall Law School Mr. Olah has appeared at all levels of courts, often appears at the B.A.(Hons.), 1970 Court of Appeal for the Province of Ontario and has argued several York University cases before the Supreme Court of Canada. Mr. Olah was counsel
Practice Areas at the Royal Commission into certain deaths at the Hospital for Sick Children where he acted for one of the members of the nursing [[ Professional Liability Litigation team under suspension. [[ Environmental Litigation [[ Appeals and Counsel Work in He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Complex Cases Advocates’ Society, the Canadian Bar Association, the American [[ Bodily Injury Defence Bar Association, the Association of Ski Defense Attorneys, the [[ Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (ADTA) (by invitation) and [[ Professional Negligence / Errors & the International Association of Defense Counsel (by invitation). Mr. Omissions Olah served as Chairman of the Criminal Justice Section (Ontario), [[ Occupiers’ Liability as Secretary-Treasurer of the Legal Education Section (Ontario) [[ Commercial Host Liability of the Canadian Bar Association, and served as Co-Chairman of [[ Sport and Recreation Liability the Annual Advocacy Symposium presented by the Canadian Bar [[ Products Liability Association (Ontario) and the Law Society of Upper Canada. He was a member of the Constitutional Initiatives Committee of the Canadian Bar Association (Ontario). He is also a past director of the Advocates’ Society and served on the Council of the Medico- Legal Society. He is a former Director of the Association of Ski Defense Attorneys.
Mr. Olah is the author of a number of articles on civil litigation and criminal law. He has lectured extensively across Canada and in
Beard Winter LLP | Lawyers 130 Adelaide St. West, 7th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2K4 | Main: 416.593.5555 | Fax: 416.593.7760 | beardwinter.com John A. Olah (continued) the United States on trial advocacy. He was a guest instructor and demonstrator in advocacy at the Intensive Advocacy Programme
Associations for trial lawyers at Osgoode Hall Law School. He also taught advocacy at Osgoode Hall Law School. [[ Canadian Bar Association [[ Ontario Bar Association He is the author of “The Art and Science of Advocacy”, a two volume [[ The Advocates’ Society textbook for lawyers on trial tactics and trial procedure. [[ American Bar Association Mr. Olah has been counsel to the Ontario Snow Resorts Association [[ Association of Defense Trial Attorneys for over 20 years. He is also counsel to the Ontario Federation of [[ Association of Ski Defense Attorneys Snowmobile Clubs. He has and continues to act for a number of (by invitation) snow resorts across Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces. [[ The Lawyers’ Club He also has and continues to act for a number of resorts and hotels [[ Canadian Defence Lawyers across Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico. Mr. Olah has argued [[ International Association of Defense Counsel (by invitation) some of the leading cases in this area including Cejvan v. Blue Mountain in which a lift ticket waiver defence was accepted for the first time in Ontario.
Mr. Olah was counsel for the defendant resort in the Van Breda case decided by the Supreme Court of Canada as to when a Canadian court can take jurisdiction over a tort occurring abroad. He was also counsel in Blue Mountain v. Ministry of Labour in the Ontario Court of Appeal as to the reach of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the province of Ontario. More recently he was successful on appeal in the case of Ziebenhaus v. Mount St. Louis as to the right of the defence to have non-medical examinations based on the court’s inherent jurisdiction powers. As well, Mr. Olah acted for the Canadian Defence Lawyers Association in the closely watched cases recently decided by the Ontario Court of Appeal in Moore v. Getahun, Westerhof v. Gee Estate and Groia v. The Law Society of Upper Canada.
Beard Winter LLP | Lawyers 130 Adelaide St. West, 7th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2K4 | Main: 416.593.5555 | Fax: 416.593.7760 | beardwinter.com