Height is a thing with humans. You can see it in the various English phrases that capture a de haut en bas relationship: we “look down on” lesser people, and may well be given “oversight” over them, and if things are truly insignificant to us we are likely to “overlook” them. But this fillip isn’t really an essay on wordplay. Rather, it’s a sort of overview of the prospect from the gods.

Let’s start with maps, that most common of views from above. It takes an act of imagination to position yourself in the bosom of the clouds and . . . [more]

I’ve been teaching at University of Ottawa Law School’s compressed January term, which means a 3 hour class every day. It’s given me a sneak peek at the future lawyers of this country – and I like what I see.

If my class is indicative of the rest of the second and third year law students in Canada, they are bright, eager – and anxious.

Bright and eager is to be expected given that they’re beginning a new challenging career – the anxiety however is troubling.

There is concern over articling positions for those staying in Ontario – no surprise . . . [more]

In last week’s episode of Spark, CBC Radio’s show on digital culture, host Nora Young interviewed Patrick Cormier, CEO of the Canadian Centre for Court Technology (CCCT), about social media in the courtroom. The Cormier interview is at the beginning of the show and lasts about 12 minutes.

The discussion covered the wide range of rules and practices in Canada, the different considerations surrounding the use of social media by reporters, court personnel, lawyers and jurors, as well as the CCCT’s Draft National Guidelines Regarding the Use of Electronic Communication Devices in Court Proceedings (Twitter, blogging etc.).

As one . . . [more]

You can still find yourself being sued for malpractice, even if you have done everything correctly. A well-documented file can help to explain what work was done or to justify an account and can be a lifesaver when it comes to defending a malpractice claim. A good paper trail can help show what work was done on a file long after your direct and specific memories of the file have faded. Here are some resolutions you can make to help you keep a better-documented file:

• I will document the important conversations and communications on my files: It is just

. . . [more]

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice just confirmed that when an employer attempted to temporarily lay off an employee of 12 years, it actually terminated her because the temporary layoff was made without providing consideration to the employee and was not a possibility included in the employment contract.

Each Thursday we present a significant excerpt from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

GUIDELINES ON MEMORY AND THE LAW: Recommendations from the Scientific Study of Human Memory
by The British Psychological Society

Guidelines on Memory and the Law: Recommendations from the Scientific Study of Human Memory. Leicester: Author, 2010

Excerpt: pages 10 – 12

3.i AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY

In general the type of memory we are concerned with . . . [more]

This column is an unintended and rather abstract follow-up to my last column entitled “Self-Represented Litigants Are Not Things” on the need for reformers to better consider the unique “real life” perspectives of lay litigants when redesigning justice system rules and processes. (It also marks the first time that I have written a column using the first person singular— a monumental occasion for me in overcoming anal retentive tendencies and long-misplaced notions of “proper” writing style.)

My involvement in the upcoming Vilardell v. Dunham appeal and extended reflection on the difficult task of facilitating fair and efficient resolutions to messy . . . [more]

No, you can’t sell those pictures you found on Twitter. But their owner also can’t enjoy an absurd windfall if you do.

Three years ago we saw heartbreaking images of a devastating earthquake in Haiti. Photographer Daniel Morel saw the devastation firsthand. As it is his work to do, he captured photos of what he saw. He also shared his images via Twitter. As it turned out, it seems much of what the world saw in the early aftermath were those pictures taken by Mr. Morel. We saw them not, however, through any arrangements made by Mr. Morel.

Agence France . . . [more]

Facebook just announced a new search tool called Graph Search that is now in beta for a limited number of users. It allows users to search based on information about their friends. A search, for example, for a restaurant will return results based on the likes and interests of the searcher’s friends.

It seems that Facebook is respecting user privacy settings, and basing the search only on what users have chosen to make public. But then again consent is all about context, and users may not have thought about such a feature when considering their privacy settings.

Facebook’s announcement has . . . [more]

Seemingly in honour of the return of hockey, Google has chosen to celebrate Frank Zamboni with today’s interactive doodle. It lets you play a game in which you drive the zamboni to clean the ice up after skaters. Here’s a video of someone playing the game:

. . . [more]

GTA Linux User’s Group, Political Outreach Group (David Collier-Brown, Editor)

Slaw readers may have noticed a flurry of interest around Voltage v. Doe and TekSavvy, an effort to get the courts to compel TekSavvy to identify 2000 households which Voltage Pictures argues are engaging in commercial copyright infringement via the “bit torrent” program.

Slaw has considered the subject of discovery of IP addresses recently in two posts: https://www.slaw.ca/2009/09/13/norwich-orders-applied-to-gmail-account/ and https://www.slaw.ca/2009/09/15/york-university-v-bell-canada-enterprises-observations-and-implications-for-future-norwich-jurisprudence/.

The technical community is following such cases with both interest and trepidation, as we expected suits against individuals to be rare, and limited to $100 to $5,000 . . . [more]

The Internet was invented by a state agency (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA) for military reasons. By design its communications divided into nodes that were intended to be self-sustaining rather than dependent on central control. The Internet initially spread outside the military through academic communities used to free speech. Its explosive growth was based on readily understood free browsers on the World Wide Web – browsers largely supplied by the private sector, whether for profit (Microsoft, Apple) or not for profit (Mozilla Foundation).

The wild west

As a result, it seemed reasonable, not to say . . . [more]