When the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council/Standards Development Committee was formed in 2013, one of its first orders of business was to review the Customer Service Standard as required under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA). The AODA requires that each accessibility standard be reviewed five years after it becomes law to determine whether the standard is working as intended and to allow for adjustments to be made as required. The council has proposed several changes to the Customer Service Standard and is asking interested stakeholders for feedback. . . . [more]

One of my correspondents is a law firm with three offices across the Ukraine.

They posted this open letter this morning:

Dear friends, colleagues and partners,

Herewith we would like to draw your attention to the current political crisis between Ukraine and Russian Federation and the current situation in the Crimea. Being a Ukrainian company we are concerned a lot about the future of our State. We kindly ask you to spare 5 minutes of your time for the issue, which is incredibly important to every person in the world, and read this message to the end.

All the politicians . . . [more]

On March 6, 2014, several legal organizations are coming together to host a charity event, Flip Your Wig for Justice, to support of access to justice.

The seven organizations behind the event include:

• Association in the Defense of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC)
• Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA)
• Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO)
• The Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children (METRAC)
• Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN)
• Pro Bono Law Ontario (PBLO)
• Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC)

Participants will raise funds by wearing a wacky wig or a judicial wig. I signed up today and I hope I . . . [more]

A recent piece in University Affairs profiles Toronto lawyer Arshia Tabrizi and his academic community engagement start-up, Vidoyen. The name, the article explains, blends “video” and “doyen.” But I’m not sure how many Deans, if any, are on the roster: The site does, though, boast “academics, scholars, experts and thought leaders.”

The site features two-minute video mini-expositions falling in a range of categories. In a quick look through the categories, I don’t see any law professors or practitioners, other than Mr. Tabrizi himself. The slate of advisors includes Former Mayor David Miller and David Cohn, the Director of News . . . [more]

Most of you will have heard of the controversial figure skating win of Russian teenager Adelina Sotnikova who won the Olympic gold medal last week beating out Yuna Kim of South Korea, despite many stylistic errors and fumbles. Many media outlets and fans were surprised to say the least at what appeared to be clear favoritism on the part of the Russian judge. The South Korean Olympic Committee has already sent a protest letter to the International Skating Union, and a petition is posted on Change.org calling for more accountability in sports judging.

But what legal recourses do athletes have . . . [more]

You may already have been peppered with these—I’m not the person most tightly in the loop—but I thought you’d like to see what one of the big firms is doing by way of compliance with Canada’s Anti-Spam legislation. This arrived by email, allowing for an email reply. And there’s also a companion version on the Blakes website: . . . [more]

From my discussions with insiders, it appears that the carnage from the dissolution of Heenan Blaikie continues as professional administrative staff (IT, HR, marketing, support staff, etc. ) are left in limbo as to what will happen to those not moving with the mass exodus of lawyers to other law firms.

There have been allegations that the dissolution was not managed well by the firm’s executive team. From the descriptions I have heard, it very much seems like an “every man/woman for his/herself” situation with panicked lawyers desperately calling around for a job while support staff were left to watch . . . [more]

Formitis [form – eye – tis] To cling blindly and unwaveringly to a document while ignoring reality.

OK – I made that up – but lawyers and clients often get frustrated when the other party to a document steadfastly refuses to change something that makes no sense. It may be presented as a standard form they can’t change, or that their corporate policy dictates that form be used, or they may be reluctant to get legal or senior business advice. On the other hand, the person resisting the change may just be lazy and not want to deal with it. . . . [more]

Listening to Roy Heenan give his spin on the demise of his law firm, I couldn’t help but hear the strains of Elton John’s “Funeral for a Friend” in my head.

It will be some time before the full back story of this debacle will be known. But in my view, Heenan Blaikie died from a combination of greed, poor management and failed leadership wrapped together in an antiquated business structure ill-suited to “more for less” client demands in a marketplace gradually filling with non-traditional competitors.

As I have said repeatedly, the Canadian legal profession is now entering the . . . [more]

In recognition of Black History Month, I like to dedicate one blog post in February to a black person in the legal realm whose achievements deserve acknowledgement. This year, I selected Leonard Austin Braithwaite. . . . [more]

Phoenix Victoria Hope Sinclair was born in Winnipeg on April 23, 2000. She was apprehended by child welfare authorities at birth, and spent her life in and out of the care of her parents. She died at Fisher River on June 11, 2005 but her death was not discovered until the winter of 2006. Her mother and her mother’s partner were charged and convicted of first-degree murder and are serving life sentences.

In March 2011, an inquiry was called under The Manitoba Evidence Act to look into:

• the child welfare services provided or not provided to Phoenix and her

. . . [more]

“Adjectives on the typewriter, he moves his words like a prize fight-er.”

I cannot proclaim to understand the meaning of the Cake song Shadow Stabbing but I do love that line. It seems particularly appropriate for a thought that has long percolated in my head regarding online communication, that being that context is so often lost. I have found it in contributing to this blog and in other online fora. How many times have you written an email with several points to which the response you receive only addresses one of those points. Or, if you engage in blogging or . . . [more]