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Archive for August, 2008

Neat List of Undiscovered Websites and Tools

Courtesy of PC Magazine, here is a list of a gross of sites that has something for everyone.

Here are three snipits:

TripIt takes the hassle out of travel itineraries. Simply forward your travel confirmation e-mails to its e-mail address and TripIt will build you a master itinerary, complete with flight/hotel info, maps, driving directions, weather reports, and much more. TripIt is also rolling out automated travel guides so you know what to expect once you get there.

Want to know what’s going on in the chambers of the highest court in the land? Scotusblog is an excellent blog

. . . [more]
Posted in: Miscellaneous, Technology

Manhattan Law Firms Mapped

The next time you’re in N.Y. on business you might find it helpful to have a link to this Google map on your PDA. Someone with the nom de net of Mr Peabody (a character in one of the all time great cartoon shows on TV — q.v.) has located approximately a hundred law firms in New York city on a Google map. He’s also provided addresses, phone numbers and websites as well. (Some are marked with blue buttons, others with red — I have no idea what the difference, if any, might be… Political leaning?) . . . [more]

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

Guantanamero. Guajiro, Guantanamero.

The song has travelled the world, and is recognizable worldwide as a classic Cuban folk tune about a local girl.

Except that’s not what it was always about.

Although the song was first written by José Fernández Diaz around 1929, the modern lyrics can be traced back to a poem, Versos Sencillos, written by a Cuban nationalist named José Martí (1853-1895).

Martí, who studied law in Spain while in exile from Cuba, served as joint consul for Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina in New York in 1881. He actively lobbied for Cuban independence from American ambitions to annex the island. . . . [more]

Posted in: Substantive Law, Substantive Law: Foreign Law

Commercial Pre-Law Courses Come to Canada

So, you’ve done your LSAT, completed your applications, and received your acceptance. You’re going to law school and starting in one week.

But that’s not enough. You want a boot camp to prepare you for the rigours of law school, and hopefully come out on top.

These courses have previously been available in the U.S. They often partnerwith LSAT courses to feed them incoming students, and using existing legal faculty from prominent institutions to teach their courses, often the same professors these students will have when school officially starts.

It’s a little less elaborate, but a similar enterprise has started . . . [more]

Posted in: Education & Training

Are Good Litigators Born?

I’ve always been leery of proponents of a biological basis for intelligence [or running].

I have conceded that genetics play some role on an individual basis, but need to be activated by the environment. Measures of intelligence are far too culturally specific, and ignore many other forms of intelligence. And I wholly reject, for largely scientific reasons, attempts to correlate genetic intelligence with racial or ethnic groups.

The same holds true for great lawyers.

Some of us are born to a long line of lawyers, or have parents that are judges or legal academics. We grew up . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Information, Legal Information: Information Management, Legal Information: Libraries & Research, Practice of Law, Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions

Welcome Shaunna Mireau

Welcome to Shaunna Mireau, librarian at Field Law in Edmonton, and one of our newest core contributors. I count Shaunna as a colleague and friend who inspires me with her energy. She is actively involved in the Edmonton Law Libraries Association (ELLA), and is one of the organizers of the Head Start program, a legal research “boot camp” for law students from various firms put on by ELLA. It involves librarians, lawyers, and judges who all volunteer their time annually to provide the program each June. She contributes to the ELLA blog and is currently ELLA’s web editor. Shaunna also . . . [more]

Posted in: Administration of Slaw

The Friday Fillip

A very brief fillip today. I’m running out of time… Just as at times your printer runs out of toner. Or says so, at least.

Apparently, some printers lie. Well, at least they exaggerate. Slate has an interesting article that explores this phenomenon: “Take That, Stupid Printer! How To Fight Back Against The Lying, Infuriating, Evil Ink-And-Toner Cabal,” by Farhad Manjoo. Seems that Brother laser printers, the author’s model at the time of writing, have an evil eye that senses when the toner falls below a certain level and causes the machine to down tools. A tiny piece . . . [more]

Posted in: Miscellaneous

Extended Powers of Attorney: WCLRA Report

The “Western Canada Law Reform Agencies” — i.e. those of B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba — have together produced a report entitled “Enduring Powers of Attorney: Areas for Reform” [PDF] with the aim of harmonizing their separate pieces of legislation. The report is 90 pages in length and contains the following substantive chapters:

  • Recognizing and Extended Power of Attorney
  • Clarifying Attorney Duties Under an EPA
  • Preventing Misuse of an EPA
  • Transitional Provisions
. . . [more]
Posted in: Legal Information, Substantive Law, Substantive Law: Legislation

Law Firms as Public Corporations?

We’ve had a number of posts (for example, from Gavin and Jordan) lately on the future of the traditional law firm model.

This week’s issue of The Economist has a thought-provoking article on recent changes to U.K. law permitting law firms to become publicly traded corporations. Australia appears to have been the first jurisdiction to permit this; Slater & Gordon went public in May of last year.

What are people’s views on this? Is it good? Bad? Inevitable? . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law

Point-in-Time Legislation From a LII

AustLII is developing point-in-time legislation on their site! You can read about the project here.

In Canada, the Department of Justice Laws site has point-in-time legislation available back to Jauanary 2003 for acts and from March 22, 2006 for regulations.

e-Laws has Ontario period in time legislation available too.

The Alberta QPSource Internet paid site has point-in-time statutes back to January 1, 2002 for subscribers. Other legal publishers offer some point-in-time services too.

Wouldn’t it be great if other LII’s could offer point-in-time legislation for one stop shopping. . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Information, Substantive Law: Legislation