Journal

Read before the decision hardens.

Articles for Ontario owners weighing a lease, company structure, closing, contract, succession question, or personal exposure. Damaris writes the legal side in plain English or Portuguese before the document moves.

ReadingOntario business decisionsFromDamaris Regina Guimaraes

In this issue

01Business

Read before you sign: Ontario leases, contracts, and share agreements.

02Real Estate

Five clauses to read before signing a commercial lease in Ontario.

03Real Estate

What a personal guarantee actually does on an Ontario commercial lease.

04Business

Share purchase or asset purchase: the structure decision before due diligence.

Damaris Regina GuimaraesDRG Law

Read before you sign: Ontario leases, contracts, and share agreements.

Commercial leases, shareholders agreements, commercial contracts, corporate resolutions, every signature transfers legal control. Read the four document types Ontario owners get wrong most often.

Read the article

Start here

Browse by decision.

Six situations Ontario owners bring to DRG Law: commercial leases, company structure, real estate closings, personal guarantees, the same-lawyer process, and legal clarity in English or Portuguese. Each one opens the guide for that decision.

Before you signClauses to read before any commercial document moves.Business structureThe decision behind the company, the shares, the partners.Real estate decisionsClosings, refinances, commercial leases across Ontario.Personal exposureWhere the personal guarantee touches the company commitment.Same-lawyer processWhy one lawyer holds the file from first call to closing.English / Portuguese legal clarityHow the file runs in the language the owner reads in.

The journal

Latest articles.

New writing from Damaris on Ontario commercial leases, business structure, real estate closings, and succession. Each article shows the clauses or numbers that change the decision and ends with the step to take before signing.

BusinessJune 6, 202614 min readRead before you sign: Ontario leases, contracts, and share agreements.Commercial leases, shareholders agreements, commercial contracts, corporate resolutions. Each one transfers legal control. Each one is enforceable in Ontario whether or not the owner read the page they signed.Read the article →Real EstateJune 6, 20269 min readFive clauses to read before signing a commercial lease in Ontario.Personal guarantee, renewal, demolition, relocation, default. Each clause carries a hidden lever the standard lease form gives to the landlord.Read the article →Real EstateJune 12, 20268 min readWhat a personal guarantee actually does on an Ontario commercial lease.The personal guarantee survives the corporation, the assignment, and the renewal. Three structural moves cap the exposure before signing.Read the article →BusinessJune 3, 2026Share purchase or asset purchase: the structure decision before due diligence.Six factors decide whether an Ontario business sale runs as a share purchase or an asset purchase: tax exposure, employee continuity, liability transfer, records, permits, and closing complexity. The structure question gets answered before due diligence starts.Read the article →Real EstateJune 3, 2026What to ask your real estate lawyer at the offer stage.Eight questions belong in the offer letter, before the conditions in the offer expire. Calling a real estate lawyer after the deal is firm closes most of the protective doors. The eight questions below are the short list to ask while the offer is still open.Read the article →

Tools

Free decision tools.

Small business legal readiness, real estate closing clarity (with the Ontario Land Transfer Tax calculator), and estate structure. Enter your situation, read the result on the page, and send it to Damaris if something needs review.

Small Business Legal Readiness ScoreA readiness screen for owners deciding whether the legal foundation can support the next hire, contract, lease, partner change, or financing request.Closing Clarity MapA real estate decision map for price, title, deadlines, financing conditions, closing funds, and documents that need to be settled before closing.Estate Structure CheckA succession planning prompt for families and owners who need to understand which assets, people, and documents must be coordinated.

Guides

All nine guides.

One guide per decision area: incorporation and shareholders' agreements, commercial leases and closings, wills and succession, corporate records, and personal exposure. Each guide collects the articles written underneath it.

Corporate decisionsThe decision behind incorporation, one owner or two, one share class or more, holding company or not, is what shapes the company. DRG Law writes that decision before the form is filed.Real estate decisionsThe business move behind the property close, the use, the exit horizon, the financing structure, sets the closing approach. DRG Law writes the move before the conditions waive.Succession decisionsThe succession question, who controls the company shares, who runs the business, how the family arrangements lock in, sits behind the will, not inside it. DRG Law writes that question first.Read before signingEvery commercial document carries four to six clauses that change the deal. DRG Law reads those first, in writing, before the owner signs.The DRG brief frameEvery DRG Law file ends in five short lines: the risk in the file, the cost of the work, the dates that matter, the decision the owner has to make, and the next step that follows. The written brief is what the owner reads and acts on.Personal exposureA personal guarantee on a company commitment binds the owner's personal assets to the company's obligation. DRG Law names the exposure before the signature.Same lawyer from first call to closingOne lawyer reads the first message, runs the file, and answers the calls. The lawyer who opens the file is the lawyer who closes it. No handoff to a junior lawyer the owner has not met.Legal clarity in English or PortugueseDRG Law works in English or Portuguese with the same legal substance. The brief is the same shape in both languages, written by the lawyer who reads in both.Corporate records before audit, sale, or lenderAn Ontario corporation's minute book, share register, and annual filings become visible at the moment they cause a problem. DRG Law keeps the records current before the third party asks.

Send your question

Not sure which article applies?

Send the question before you sign, waive a condition, or commit. Damaris reads every intake personally and writes back in English or Portuguese.

Send the question Call 647-584-0998