archive for December, 2011



A Lesson in Appellate Advocacy

by Simon Fodden

December 20th, 2011

Here's the scenario: you're retained to argue an appeal in the tough U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit; there's a precedent from that very court that appears clearly… [more]

Reaching and Retaining Customers

by Robert McKay

December 20th, 2011

There was a time, not too long ago, when some in legal and professional publishing would refer to their sector as offering "a license to print money". The highest quality… [more]

Heads Up for a Christmas Present From the Supremes

by Simon Chester

December 19th, 2011

The Supreme Court of Canada announced today that judgment in the National Securities Regulator Reference will be delivered at 9:45 a.m. EDT on Thursday, December 22, 2011. That's In the … [more]

Improving Your Law Firm Blog Content

by Connie Crosby

December 19th, 2011

I read Steve Matthew's Slaw.ca column today Web Law Predictions for 2012 with great interest. I noted especially the prediction that "Firms Abandon Content, Blame Subsequent Failures on Social Media,"… [more]

Ode to the Trial

by John O'Sullivan

December 19th, 2011

This was how David Sterns, one of the panel members at an OBA civil litigation session last week, described the Ontario Court of Appeal's 5 December judgment interpreting the new… [more]

The 2011 Apple in Law Offices Survey saw over 750 respondents provide insight on how Apple devices, ranging from the iPhone to the MacBook, are impacting the way they practice… [more]

Seasonal Disclaimers – and Copyright?

by John Gregory

December 19th, 2011

'Tis the season for law firms (and no doubt others) to send out season's greetings by email, most often accompanied by the usual wordy and sometimes bilingual notices that the… [more]

[This is the text (updated for SLAW) of a Fraud Alert that LAWPRO sent to Ontario Lawyers December 15, 2011.]… [more]
LAWPRO continues to see high numbers of bad cheque frauds

Web Law Predictions for 2012

by Steven Matthews

December 19th, 2011

Creating an annual roundup of legal web technology predictions was never on my personal "to do" list. Rather, it was an accidental offering started here at Slaw a few years… [more]

Legal Language and N-Grams at SCOTUS

by Omar Ha-Redeye

December 18th, 2011

Words have meaning. The context, tone, and interplay give rise to nuances that is the basis for statutory and case law interpretation. But sometimes the iteration of words have meaning… [more]

CanLII Launches New Hyperlinking Tool

by Shaunna Mireau

December 16th, 2011

CanLII has presented us with an early Christmas present. They are offering up their new hyperlinking tool. As the linking page (found under Tools) states:
This tool automatically adds hyperlinks… [more]

The Friday Fillip: Drawing Characters

by Simon Fodden

December 16th, 2011

What does the Byzantine musical symbol kai apothes… [more] look like? Unicode knows. Because we human beings do love to "scribble, scribble, scribble" that computer industry standard boasts "more than 109,000

SlawTips      

SlawTips Top 10 Financial Errors: #7 Put Off Dealing With Underperforming Lawyers
Friday, January 27

When everyone in the firm is required to report monthly to all other partners, you instill a culture in the firm that is self-correcting. If someone fails to regularly meet their financial goals, you. […] »»

Practice

SlawTips Dig Deep
Wednesday, January 25

Today’s Tip: Dig Deep By deep, I mean the deep or invisible web.  According to Marcus Zillman, there are somewhere in the vicinity of 1 trillion plus pages of … »»

Research

SlawTips Top 10 Financial Errors: #6 Think You Don’t Need a Fee Agreement With Each Client.
Thursday, January 19

It is a huge financial mistake to not record in writing the very nature of the contractual relationship with each and every one of your clients. »»

Practice

noted on Slaw    

MLB Selected Case Summaries    

These summaries of selected recent cases are provided each week to Slaw by Maritime Law Book.
More information.

  • Administrative Law - Judicial review - General - Scope or standard of review

    Ten individuals complained to the Information and Privacy Commissioner that the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) disclosed, in contravention of the Personal Information Protection Act, their personal information between October 13 and December 2, ...

  • Civil Rights - Property - Search and seizure - Search - What constitutes

    The accused was charged with possession of child pornography and making available child pornography. The accused brought an application, alleging several violations of his rights under the Charter.

    The Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s ...

  • Constitutional Law - Extent of powers conferred - Double aspect doctrine - General

    In provincial references, both the Alberta Court of Appeal (510 A.R. 200; 527 W.A.C. 200) and the Quebec Court of Appeal (2011 QCCA 591), concluded that the proposed Canadian Securities Act (CSA) was unconstitutional. A ...

  • Criminal Law - Procedure - Charge or directions - Jury or judge alone - Directions regarding evidence generally

    The accused was charged with breach of trust by a public official contrary to s. 122 of the Criminal Code. The trial judge acquitted the accused. ...

  • Civil Rights - Trials - Due process, fundamental justice and fair hearings - Criminal and quasi-criminal proceedings - Delay (Charter, s. 7)

    MacIntosh was charged on three informations with a total of 43 counts of sexual offences against nine complainants in the 1970s. The first information ...

  • Real Property Tax - Valuation - Business property - Considerations

    Two breweries’ respective properties were assessed as special properties under the Assessment Act, 2006. They appealed their respective municipal tax assessments to the Review Commissioner. The Commissioner dismissed the appeals. The breweries each appealed. The appeals ...

  • Barristers and Solicitors -Duty to court - General principles - Duty of integrity

    The applicant (Girao) and Allstate Insurance Co. disputed entitlements to accident benefits. The respondent law firm represented Allstate. Girao complained to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (PCC) against Allstate for disclosing her ...

  • Criminal Law - Sentencing - Sentencing procedure and rights of the accused - Plea bargain or joint submission - Effect of

    The accused was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for three breaches of a recognizance under s. 810.2 of the Criminal Code. He appealed and applied ...

  • Practice - Persons who can sue and be sued - Individuals and corporations - Status or standing - Class actions - Members of class - General

    The plaintiffs were Inuit or Métis persons who were forced to attend certain residential schools in Labrador and Newfoundland. They ...


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