Benefits Of A Well Crafted Release: Biancaniello v. DMCT LLP

A release is a contract that relieves one or more parties of future liability surrounding certain incidents. Parties often use releases in the context of settlements, to avoid future litigation in connection with the negotiations.

In the past, it has been uncertain how the courts will interpret the general language of standard form releases in the insurance context (i.e. it was not always clear whether broadly-worded releases would be enforceable against unforeseen claims). Recently, the Ontario Court of Appeal ( “Court”) provided some clarity on this subject. The Court held that express language is required to exclude claims that were not contemplated, provided that the language of the release is sufficiently broad.