Leslie Klinger has written a good many books about Sherlock Holmes. Currently he and author Laurie R. King are editing a book of stories by genre writers that are inspired by the Holmes canon. Their publisher, Pegasus Books, was contacted by the Conan Doyle Estate which, to quote Klinger,

implied that if the Estate wasn’t paid a license fee, they’d convince the major distributors not to sell the book. Our publisher was, understandably, concerned, and told us that the book couldn’t come out unless this was resolved.

Klinger began an action a month ago, asking the District Court in . . . [more]

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) regulates the sale of alcohol products in Ontario. Fans of wine not available on the shelves of the LCBO’s outlets may form wine clubs that order particular wines through the LCBO. Until recently, the LCBO collected the names and addresses of all the members of the clubs placing these orders.

Acting on a complaint by a manager/member of such a club, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario recently ordered that the LCBO stop collecting this personal information. In response, the LCBO stopped filling orders from the wine clubs.

According to the CBC . . . [more]

In the wake of the Quebec government tabling Bill 14, An Act to amend the Charter of the French language, the [Quebec] Charter of Rights and Freedoms and other legislative provisions to improve yet again the eminence of the French language in Quebec (which I discussed on Slaw last December here), the Conseil supérieur de la langue française (CSLF) is of the opinion that the government needs to take a hard-line approach if it wants French to really be the common language of all Quebecers.
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I say, Doctor, Doctor!

The Economist has a Johnson column on lawyers in the U.S. who call themselves "Doctor" because they have a J.D. degree. Apparently some states' ethical rules frown on this practice while others don't. The columnist comes down in favour of "common sense," which reserves that title for medical practitioners by and large. . . . [more]

… sometimes.

For some lawyers, anyway.

EG's clients lost completely. They didn't have much on their side apart from EG. Assuming (for argument's sake) the cab rank rule applies in Canada, a strict application says that EG was obliged to take the gamblers' case provided they met his fee.

I wonder, though, what else it means that it wasn't BG on the appeal.

"Frank"ly speaking, that is.

Moreira v. Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, 2013 ONCA 121. You can read about it in the papers. The short summary is: Gamblers lose; house wins. Again. Go figure.

  . . . [more]

Yahoo has decided that as of June of this year, workers who had been previously telecommuting will have to report to the office for work, as discussed on many news sites. The type of collaboration, communication and creative energy that can only be achieved face-to-face seems to be a driving factor.

It is no surprise that employees directly affected by this new policy are unhappy. In fact, employees are not the only ones reacting to this; the internet is buzzing with criticism over this decision.

Telecommuting is considered one of the more flexible ways employers deal with an increasing diverse workforce whose . . . [more]

Legal philosopher and public intellectual died yesterday: February 14, 2013. He was 81.

It's fitting that leading U.K. – the Guardian – and U.S. – the N.Y. Times – obituaries present different pictures of him, even to the extent of seemingly disagreeing on which of his books and other writing was the most important and on his significance in the world of legal and moral philosophy.

For example, the central paragraphs about his legal philosophy in the Guardian's obituary are:

His books were immensely influential, especially in US law schools. He published many articles both in technical law journals and

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I bought my copy of John Rawls A Theory of Justice for £5 in 1972. It would have been inconceivable then that I would be watching a YouTube video of a musical version of Rawls' Theory by Eylon Aslan-Levy. Geek heaven.

Actually, the fact that a musical itself could be produced would have been inconceivable. But it's more than a musical – it describes itself as an all-singing, all-dancing romp through 2,500 years of political philosophy, by Eylon Aslan-Levy, Ramin Sabi & Tommy Peto.

In order to draw inspiration for his magnum opus, John Rawls travels back through time

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Yesterday morning, I was in Dallas, giving a presentation to members of the National Association of Bar Executives (NABE), which brings together the professional staff leaders of both voluntary and mandatory bar associations across the U.S. (and occasionally Canada, although there were no Canadians at this meeting).

I spoke to the NABE conference about the future of bar associations and suggested a number of new themes or pillars upon which 21st-century bar associations could be built. One of these was "aspiration" — my belief that most lawyers aspire to the law as a higher calling; they deeply appreciate and cherish . . . [more]

I am not a great fan of relegating a specific month to honour persons of other cultures or races. I believe it would be better to integrate broad teaching about cultures within the education system as a regular feature of the curriculum throughout elementary and high school. I also do not appreciate that blacks were given the coldest month of the year to celebrate their achievements around the world. Nonetheless, as last year, I have decided to dedicate one blog post in February to a black person in the legal realm whose achievements should be acknowledged. This year, that person is Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré… . . . [more]

I recently heard The Honourable Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein give a few remarks as he received the Manitoba Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award. In acknowledging the award, Justice Rothstein wisely noted that our career accomplishments don’t reflect only our own achievements but also the many contributions of our mentors and teachers.

Justice Rothstein’s comments reminded me of the importance of good mentoring, particularly in the early years of a legal career but also through periods of career transition, and turned my mind to the role of mentors in my own career.

The awards presentation also included the 2013 Isabel Ross . . . [more]

How do we assess the social and cultural significance the words we choose? And what is the impact of using gender-neutral language in our communications?

These questions were the subject of a spirited panel discussion at last week’s Manitoba Bar Association Midwinter Conference in Winnipeg. Dr. Jila Ghomeshi, syntactician and author of Grammar Matters and Sandra Petersson, Research Manager of the Alberta Law Reform Institute participated in the discussion moderated by Patricia Lane on how lawyers can reflect gender neutrality in their use of language.

Ms Lane referred to the business and practical reasons for using gender neutral . . . [more]