With Supreme Court Judge of the United States Anthony Kennedy announcing his retirement, there are a host of potential nominees. Included in this list is Justice Don Willet of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. ABC News contends that some people are taking issue with his potential nomination because of his use of social media. It has been argued that social media use can reveal biases and detract from the perceived impartiality of the bench.

However, ABC News notes that “Legal scholars say there’s no legal provision prohibiting Supreme Court justices from sharing their opinions online or in speeches. The . . . [more]

A short note of congratulations to our Slaw colleague Malcolm Mercer who was elected June 28th as Treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario.

If you’re reading Slaw from within the province of Ontario, you’ll recognize Malcolm. His even-handed voice and leadership on issues impacting the profession are widely visible and respected among his peers. A long time Partner at McCarthy Tétrault, Malcolm was first elected Bencher back in 2011 and then re-elected in 2015. He has led or served on numerous LSO Committees, Task Forces and Working Groups throughout his career; and has amassed a number of well deserved . . . [more]

Here are excerpts from the most recent tips on SlawTips, the site that each week offers up useful advice, short and to the point, on research, writing, and practice.

Research & Writing

Stay Current With the Canadian Law Blogs List
Alan Kilpatrick

Would you like to stay informed about Canadian legal news? It is essential for members of the legal profession to stay current with new developments in the legal field. However, this can be challenging. The multitude of blogs, websites, and information resources available online can make the task of staying up-to-date seem overwhelming. …

Practice

Taking Responsibility . . . [more]

In Canada we allow lawyers to have sex with their clients. Or, to be precise: we do not prohibit lawyers from having sex with their clients.

Canadian law societies do regulate lawyer-client sex in a limited way. Almost all law societies prohibit sexual harassment.[1] And most law societies also identify lawyer-client sex as potentially creating conflicts of interest. They identify sexual relationships with clients as the sort of thing that may “conflict with the lawyer’s duty to provide objective, disinterested professional advice to the client” and which may “permit exploitation of the client” (FLS Model Code Rule 3.4-1, Commentary . . . [more]

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Global Workplace Insider 2. Barry Sookman 3. Avoid a Claim 4. Canadian Combat Sports Law Blog 5. Alcohol & Advocacy

Global Workplace Insider
National Minimum Wage Exemptions: employers to heave a sigh of relief

On 30 May 2018, the Minimum Wage Bill (the Bill) was . . . [more]

Although it may seem as an inconsistency, the Attorney General in Ontario need not be an attorney in that jurisdiction.

With the announcement of Caroline Mulroney as the AG in Ontario this week, this possibility is now a reality. Ms. Mulroney holds an American law degree and was licensed in New York State, but is not a licensee in Ontario.

The validity of a lawyer functioning in this role was resolved several years ago in Askin v. Law Society of British Columbia, which Adam Dodek summarized on Slaw here, where the court held,

[27] To conclude that only persons entitled

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

BIENS ET PROPRIÉTÉ : À la lumière de la jurisprudence, les parties à un recours pour trouble de voisinage n’ont pas à être des voisins contigus et le voisinage peut même être assez étendu; en l’espèce, les entreprises appelantes et les intimés, dont les immeubles respectifs se trouvent à environ . . . [more]