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 sixty 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. Thoughtful Legal Management 2. Double Aspect 3. The Stream 4. Barry Sookman 5. SOQUIJ

Thoughful Legal Management
What is on Your Bucket List?

Having just returned from my summer vacation, I came across an article on Lifehack.org that struck a resonate chord deep within me. The article is entitled: The Ultimate Bucket List: 60 Things You Should Do Before You Die. Perhaps it was the all-too tragic death of Robin Williams. Perhaps it was my visit to Ground Zero this summer. Perhaps it was just the sense that life is passing by all too quickly. I do know that I wished I had written this article as I think that Thomas Mondel has done an excellent job and he should be justifiably proud of what he has crafted….

Double Aspect
The Economics of Unanimity

It is often thought that judicial unanimity is a valuable commodity. Chief Justices bang heads, twist arms, and break legs in order to get their courts to produce more of it, but they don’t always succeed, and unanimity remains at least somewhat scarce on the U.S. and Canadian Supreme Courts (although more on the former than on the latter, which has been unanimous in judgment in between two thirds and three quarters of its decisions rendered since 2010). The unusually high output of the unanimity production line at the US Supreme Court this year has produced much commentary. But how much do we really know about the economics of unanimity? …

The Stream
Johanne Blenkin: Courthouse Libraries BC 2014/2015 Service Reductions

CLBC has recently reduced or discontinued some services and adjusted our staffing levels in response to an 18% funding cut from our primary funder, the Law Foundation of British Columbia. Because the majority of our current budget is devoted to two core areas (staffing costs and information resources), it is not possible to absorb a budget reduction of this size without affecting these two areas. After careful review, we have made the following adjustments…

Barry Sookman
Michael Geist’s attack on artists over Tariff 8

On May 16, 2014 the Copyright Board released its decision certifying Re: Sound Tariff 8 setting royalty rates for webcasting services in Canada. Re:Sound promptly filed an application for judicial review of the decision, calling it a “significant outlier in the world” that “greatly disadvantages the Canadian music industry in the globalized market place.” Re:Sound’s application was met with a blizzard of support when 70 music organizations released a joint statement publically denouncing the Copyright Board decision. They called it “a serious setback for the music community in Canada” and “for artists and the music companies who invest in their careers”….

SOQUIJ
Les dommages-intérêts punitifs en vertu de la Loi sur la protection du consommateur

En vertu de l’article 272 de la Loi sur la protection du consommateur, si un commerçant manque à une obligation que lui impose la loi, le consommateur peut demander des dommages-intérêts punitifs, dont les critères d’attribution sont prévus à l’article 1621 du Code civil du Québec. Récemment, dans l’arrêt Richard c. Time Inc.,la Cour suprême a rappelé que ces dommages-intérêts visaient notamment à décourager la répétition de comportements indésirables. Le tribunal doit également apprécier le comportement du commerçant avant et après la violation.

_________________________

*Randomness here is created by Random.org and its list randomizing function.