Tips Tuesday

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 technology, research and practice.

Technology

[There was no technology tip last week.]
Dan Pinnington

Research

Update Legislation on Your Mobile Device
Shaunna Mireau

A couple of years ago I shared a tip for putting the Rules of Court on a mobile device. A couple of days ago there was a notice about an amendment to the Alberta Rules of Court – the rules linked in the example post. Thanks to persistent URLs, the links in my 2011 post are still relevant. Because adding content to mobile devices is usually managed by an individual, I am using Today’s Tip to remind you . . .

Practice

Lawyers’ Confidentiality and NSA Eavesdropping
David Bilinsky & Garry Wise

Take a moment to consider the many ways we use the internet and other telecommunications tools in our daily work as legal professionals. Phone calls, scheduling and calendaring, legal research, online filings, our omnipresent emails, and more generically, “Googling” for everything from court addresses to legislation to the phone number of that pizza place that feeds us on a late night deadline-driven drafting marathon. We’ve all read articles (and perhaps even attended at conferences) focusing on security in the cloud. We’ve all been warned about the perils of the guy who might be peering over your shoulder or using some black-app to intercept your wireless data at Starbucks. Given recent disclosures, however, regarding the US National Security Agency’s various global data-mining activities, it is no longer a question of whether our data is secure. . . .