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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

O or Oh?
Neil Guthrie

On a recent Canada Day, someone on LinkedIn referred to O’Canada, which is clearly wrong. (O’ is confined to Irish surnames, where it is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Ó or Ua, meaning ‘descendant of’; M(a)c [or M’], as for the Scots, means ‘son of’). … . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Practice

Take That Vacation, It Will Make You a Better Lawyer!
Erin Cowling

We all know that taking a real vacation makes us less stressed, more focused, and in return, better lawyers, better employees, and better bosses. Even though I love my job, I still need a break from it. I need to unplug and unwind. I need to think about something other than the law. When I do, . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Legislation Tracking Services
Susannah Tredwell

Based on a discussion on the CALL listserv – many thanks to Martha Murphy for all the information. One of the services typically offered by law libraries is legislative tracking. Examples of this service include tracking a bill from First Reading to Royal Assent (and beyond) and alerting users to proposed changes to an existing piece of legislation. …

Practice

Get . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Practice

Set small goals
Sandra Bekhor

September always seems to be a time when Canadians get more serious about work. Well, we have a short summer and we need to make the most of it, right? One simple tip that can take some of sting out of leaving vacations behind and getting back to the daily grind is to get into the habit of setting small practice development goals. . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Practice
Unclear Days: Computing Time in Statutes and Regulations
Shawn Erker

What does it mean when a statute or regulation says that there must be “x days between” two actions? What about “at least x days between” two actions? In keeping with the relative, wibbly-wobbly nature of time itself, the answer sometimes depends on where you are. …

Research & Writing
Redundancy Redux
Neil Guthrie

Remanded back: I heard . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Technology

My Favourite Apps – Part IV
Lesha Van Der Bij

Nowadays, I think most transit systems probably have an app that tells you when the next bus or train is coming. Handy, but I found a new app – Citymapper – which is great for planning out how to get where you need to go. …

Research & Writing

Renata Adler
Neil Guthrie

If you are unfamiliar with . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

How to Cite Online Looseleafs
Susannah Tredwell

The question came up recently on the CALL listserv about how to cite online looseleafs, specifically those available on Thomson Reuters’ ProView platform. The McGill Guide suggests citing print looseleafs as follows: … . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Confusing Pairs Redux
Neil Guthrie

Broach/brooch: You broach a subject when you raise it with someone: The partner broached the issue of missed deadlines with the hapless associate. A brooch is a piece of jewellery typically pinned to the upper breast: The Queen always wears a large diamond brooch on her coat or dress, but her ancestor James I preferred to pin one to his hat. . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Neither a Lender…
Neil Guthrie

Do you lend someone money or do you loan it? You can do either, in fact. (The noun is always loan.) The verb lend, in the sense of granting someone else temporary possession of something in the expectation of its eventual return, is an old one: Ælfric used it in his Grammar more than a thousand years ago. … . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Deemed
Neil Guthrie

This is one of those words with a weird function confined largely to the world of law. The ordinary current meaning of deem, according to the OED is, essentially, to consider, think or judge (in a non-judicial way). …

Practice

Get Free Ontario CPD Papers on AccessCLE
Emma Durand-Wood

It’s been a few years since AccessCLE was cited here on SlawTips, and a . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Finding Internet Sources Cited in SCC Judgments
Susannah Tredwell

When you are trying to find a source that has been cited online, it can be very frustrating to discover that the link no longer works. …

Practice

National Self-Represented Litigants Project Report Now on CanLII
Melanie Hodges Neufeld

CanLII recently announced that 22 reports from the National Self- Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) are now available on . . . [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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Exclamation marks
Neil Guthrie

A certain orange person to the south of us uses these a lot (Sad!). You would probably never see one in a contract, but you might in a factum – but there only rarely, and, one hopes, judiciously. …

Practice

Discover New Canadian Law Library Podcasts

As mentioned recently on Slaw, at this year’s annual conference in Edmonton, CALL/ACDB partnered with vLex . . . [more]