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Archive for September, 2013

Cyber Crime Example of the Importance of Reconciling Your Trust Accounts Each Month

This article appeared in the September 2013 issue of TitleNews.

Cyber Criminals Steal More Than $1.5 million from California Escrow Company.

California-based Efficient Services Escrow Group was shut down by the state after cyber criminals stole more than $1.5 million from the firm’s trust account and wired the money to China and Russia.

In a petition filed in Orange County Superior Court, the California Department of Corporations (DOC) said the thieves first wired $432,215 to an account in Moscow on Dec 17, 2012. Then, the criminals wired more than $1.1 million on Jan 24 and 30 to a trade . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law: Practice Management

Where Are the MOOCs for Law Librarians?

Today I read with interest Toronto law librarian Katie Thomas‘ post on the On Firmer Ground blog, “MOOCs: What’s In it for Law Librarians?“. She does a great job of outlining the availability of MOOCs (massive open online courses) for librarians.

She asks the question, though:

And what of MOOCs for law librarians? I did not find any that were purposely geared to law and librarians. There are courses on environmental law, criminal law, English common law, constitutional law and more. I think Wendy Reynolds raises a good point when she surmises in a comment on SLAW

. . . [more]
Posted in: Education & Training, Legal Information: Libraries & Research

Justice Marc Nadon to the Supremes

PM announces nominee for Supreme Court of Canada
30 September 2013
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the nomination of Mr. Justice Marc Nadon for the Supreme Court of Canada. Mr. Justice Nadon will replace Mr. Justice Morris Fish, who resigned from the Supreme Court of Canada effective August 31, 2013.

“I am pleased to announce the nomination of Mr. Justice Nadon, whose extraordinary body of legal work – as a longtime judge on both the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal; judicial member of the Competition Tribunal; expert in maritime and transportation law with almost . . . [more]

Posted in: Miscellaneous, Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions

Five Ways to Use Evernote as a Legal Marketing Tool

Evernote is a digital notebook application with both desktop and mobile versions, all of which easily synch so that your information is available on any of your devices at any time. Evernote is a cross-platform application, which means that you can use it and information will synch even if you have a Windows desktop, an iPad and an Android phone.

Although many consider Evernote to be a productivity app, it can also be a helpful marketing and business development tool to help lawyers capture marketing and business development ideas, keep track of notes on prospective clients, and develop content, among . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from forty-one recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Legal Post Blog 2. Social Media for Law Firms 3. Le Blogue du CRL 4. BC Injury Law Blog 5. Entertainment & Media Law Signal

Legal Post Blog
Lawyer speaks out against an antiquated family law system
It is a common refrain among regular Canadians, “I’m not sure I . . . [more]

Posted in: Monday’s Mix

“Who’S Eating Law Firms’ Lunch?”

The Legal Innovators Roundtable, a monthly gathering of the like-minded in downtown Toronto, is a constant source of fresh ideas on the changing face of the legal industry. (If you would like details of meeting times and place I would be happy to provide them.)

Here is an ABA article circulated last week. It profiles Novus Law, a Chicago based legal services company that reviews, manages and analyzes documents for large-scale litigation, now poised to focus on drafting briefs and motions. Interestingly neither founder is a lawyer.

See the long list of legal process outsourcing and litigation support firms at . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law: Future of Practice

Accommodation of Religious Practice and Family Status in Ontario

On September 19, 2013 I attended the Devry Smith Frank LLP Exclusive Human Resources Seminar Series at the Don Valley Hotel & Suites in Toronto. My notes from this session follow.

Religious Accommodation in the Workplace

L. Viet Nguyen discussed the challenge of accommodating religious practice and expression in the workplace. Religion is a fundamental freedom, guaranteed in the Charter, and discrimination on the basis of creed is prohibited by the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Religious accommodation in Canada is governed by a 2-part test from the 2004 SCC case of Amselem v. Syndicat Northcrest:

  1. employers are
. . . [more]
Posted in: Education & Training: CLE/PD, Substantive Law

Summaries Sunday: OnPoint Legal Research

One Sunday each month OnPoint Legal Research provides Slaw with an extended summary of, and counsel’s commentary on, an important case from the British Columbia, Alberta, or Ontario court of appeal.

SABOURIN AND SUN GROUP OF COMPANIES v. LAIKEN, 2013 ONCA 530

1. CASE SUMMARY  Areas 0f Law:  Mareva Injunction; Contempt; Principle of Finality ~Civil contempt does not require finding of deliberate intent~
Posted in: Summaries Sunday

Quebec Immigration Regulations Challenged in Court

On August 8, 2013, we wrote about Quebec’s New Rules and Procedures for the province’s Immigration and Skilled Workers Program and the significant changes to the program’s selection criteria. As indicated by the Quebec government, "All applications will be processed according to the new rules in effect as of August 1, 2013, with the exception of those for which processing began prior to that date."
Posted in: Justice Issues, Substantive Law, Substantive Law: Legislation

The Friday Fillip: We’re All Pixillated

It started with a pen — a uni-ball Jetstream, as it happens, an instrument that a panel of experts on The Wirecutter has ruled “the best affordable pen.” So, of course I promptly went out and acquired a uni-ball Jetstream pen, which, I’m happy to say, works a right proper treat.

Sometimes a pen is just a pen, as someone might once have said.

But not in this case, because I began wondering about what good a pen is nowadays. It’s useful for signing things, I suppose, but if John Gregory and other sensible modernizers have their way that archaism . . . [more]

Posted in: The Friday Fillip

The Case for Linked Data as Legal Information Infrastructure

The promise of technologies related to the semantic web is coming closer to realization. These innovations have interesting potential as ways to provide better navigation of legal information and to work as infrastructure to encourage innovation in both software development and content generation. This could be achieved by providing the means to separate the development of applications, the production of secondary content, and the development and maintenance of databases of primary legal information. This is important for legal researchers as it has the potential to remove the barriers among publishers’ platforms and facilitate better utilization of content from multiple sources. . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Information