Your retail client could be at risk of a lawsuit if it starts selling cannabis, but the exposure may not be the same as the liability risk of a bar serving alcohol, an insurance defence lawyer suggests.

Whether a retailer selling cannabis or alcohol could be sued is “a question of foreseeability,” Ari Krajden, a partner with law firm Zarek Taylor Grossman Hanrahan LLP, told Canadian Underwriter recently. Krajden co-chairs ZTGH’s coverage practice group.

If proposed rules affecting Ontario lawsuits are brought into place, insurers could be paying much less for plaintiffs’ expert witnesses, a lawyer suggests.

Ontario has what it calls a “simplified procedure,” which is intended to make it simpler and cheaper to take lawsuits to court. The simplified procedure normally applies to lawsuits for less than $100,000.