Canada’s online legal magazine.

Governments: A2J Is Mostly Your Mess to Clean Up

It’s easy to blame lawyers for the failure to provide people with accessible and reliable legal solutions. But truthfully, I’d place only about a third of the responsibility for the A2J at the feet of the legal profession.

Lawyers’ contribution to the access failure in Canada falls into two broad categories:

Regulatory: Lawyers elected by other lawyers constitute the great majority of law society Benchers who have consistently blocked expanding the supply of legal services providers beyond the legal profession.

Commercial: Lawyers in private practice charge fees that are beyond most people’s financial capabilities, both in terms of amount and . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law

Book Review: Art Law: Cases and Controversies

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Art Law: Cases and Controversies. By Paul Bain. Toronto: LexisNexis Canada, 2022. xxii, 362 p. Includes illustrations, table of cases, and index. ISBN 9780433509653 (softcover) $170.00.

Reviewed by Susan Barker
Librarian Emeritus,
University of Toronto

As author Paul Bain writes in his introduction to Art Law: Cases and Controversies, . . . [more]

Posted in: Thursday Thinkpiece

The Emergence of Brain-Computer Interfaces

In the article “AI’s Next Frontier“, author Bernard Marr discusses the future of Brain-Computer Interfaces. Over the years, surgical methods have evolved to the point where people can now experiment with implanting sensors into the human brain and collect data.

Marr writes “Today, one of the best-known pioneers is Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk…It aims to enable people suffering from paralysis to use machines and prosthetic limbs to recover their mobility…[Another company, named NextMind] has developed a device that translates signals from the visual cortex into digital commands. As well as creating tools that allow computers to . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law: Future of Practice, Technology

Legal Champions: Lessons Lawyers Can Learn From World Tour Cyclists

In the world of professional cycling, the most revered athletes are those who excel in a variety of disciplines. From mountain climbs to time trials and sprints to the finish line, world tour cyclists must master a diverse set of skills to be champions. Lawyers can draw valuable lessons from these elite athletes, realizing that specialization in various legal disciplines can lead to a well-rounded and successful legal career.

Versatility Matters:

Much like a cyclist aiming for victory in a grand tour, lawyers should strive to be versatile in their practice. Legal professionals will encounter a diverse range of cases . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

The “Good Character” Problem

The recent appeal decision AA v Law Society of Ontario upheld the Law Society Tribunal’s 2023 decision to licence to applicant “AA” after finding him to be of “good character”—even though AA had admitted to have sexually abused three young children in 2009 (and to hiding this information from the Law Society in an earlier licensing application, which he withdrew in 2017 following an anonymous tip disclosing the abuse).

The AA case and other good character hearings stemming from sexual misconduct involving minors have generated considerable discussion both inside and outside the legal profession about how law societies should assess . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Ethics

Tips Tuesday: Finding User Manuals

This is a slightly more niche tip, but if you’re ever asked to find a a user manual, the Internet Archive has you covered. The Internet Archive Manual Library is “a collection of manuals, instructions, walkthroughs and datasheets for a massive spectrum of items. Manuals covering electronic and mechanical products, instructions on mixing or blending items, and instruction sets for software and computer items are all included.”

If you can’t find the user manual you need there, you can also search for user manuals at http://www.manualsonline.com/search.html and https://www.manualslib.com/

Susannah Tredwell . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Information

A Sounder Footing for Ontario’s Tribunals: The Fewer Backlogs and Less Partisan Tribunals Act

A Bill recently introduced to Ontario’s Legislature can tangibly relieve the crisis of access to justice and politicization in the province’s tribunals, and blaze a path to better appointments for adjudicators and judges across the country. The Fewer Backlogs and Less Partisan Tribunals Act was introduced by Liberal MPP Ted Hsu, and will be debated in the Ontario Legislature on April 18th.

Ontario’s high-volume tribunals — especially the Landlord & Tenant Board, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and the Automobile Accident Benefits Service — have been afflicted by dire access to justice problems in recent years. The root cause . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Ethics

Is Your Face a Liability?

AI – the discussion points keep coming!

I just spent about 15 minutes of my day stripping my face off the internet!
That includes asking Google and Edge to remove cached images of my face.

Why the heck would I do that?

Here’s why:

Taryn Plumb, “Face Off: Attackers are Stealing Biometrics to Access Victims’ Bank Accounts” (February 21, 2024).

“…cybersecurity company Group-IB has discovered the first banking trojan that steals people’s faces. Unsuspecting users are tricked into giving up personal IDs and phone numbers and are prompted to perform face scans. These images are then swapped out with AI-generated . . . [more]

Posted in: Technology

Monday’s Mix

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. David Whelan 2. SOQUIJ | Le Blogue 3. Employment & Human Rights Law in Canada 4. PierreRoy & Associés 5. BC Injury Law Blog

David Whelan
The Referenced Librarian

It’s always a great joy to give someone a job reference. It doesn’t happen often but it’s always

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ

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.

CONSTITUTIONNEL (DROIT) : Le tribunal rejette une demande de sursis de l’application de l’article 10 de la Loi modifiant la Loi concernant les soins de fin de vie et d’autres dispositions législatives, lequel a pour effet d’empêcher les maisons de soins palliatifs d’exclure l’aide médicale à mourir de leur . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

Ontario AG Looks to Circumvent the Rules Committee to Fix the Superior Court

Afflicted with a “culture of complacency[1],” the Ontario Superior Court has long struggled to timely advance cases to trial. Variously described by its leading jurists as ‘broken[2]’ and ‘antiquated[3],’ it has fallen further into disrepute as gun cases[4], a sexual assault case[5] (and another[6] and another[7]) and human trafficking[8] cases have been thrown out due to “excessive delay.” This continues the sordid state of affairs that existed prior to the pandemic, where hundreds of criminal cases were being dismissed annually for delay[9]. . . . [more]

Posted in: Justice Issues, Practice of Law

Discrimination Based on Physical Disability Costly for New Brunswick Employer

Written by Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD, Content Editor, First Reference Inc.

In December 2023, the Vice-Chairperson of the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board (Board) confirmed that the employer discriminated against an employee when the employer terminated his employment following an injury. The Board also concluded that the employer bullied, harassed and belittled the employee. Consequently, the Board awarded $10,000 as general damages, which included damages for injury to the employee’s dignity, feelings, self-respect and self-worth. Further, the employer was required to participate in a one-day human rights training course on the duty to accommodate. . . . [more]

Posted in: Case Comment, Substantive Law, Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions