We are witness to a parallel or alternate dimension where the constitutional rights democratic nations have toiled to enshrine and interpret, including freedom of speech, can be effectively – and imperceptibly – bypassed. While this situation prevailed prior to COVID-19, the pandemic has fast-tracked erratic private mediation of expression out of sheer necessity.

Questions respecting social media platforms’ ad hoc or arbitrary reactions to sensitive matters abound, including Twitter’s unprecedented restraint of the New York Post’s Hunter Biden piece and Facebook’s slowdown of the story.

Presumably recognizing some degree of state-like responsibility, platforms are deploying algorithmic decision-making tools and . . . [more]

Most of us are looking forward these days to vaccines, especially to help us see a world where we are living following a pandemic. Not everyone is keen on vaccines though, and those divisions extend to disputes between parents over their kids.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently released an appeal in A.P. v. L.K. of an arbitration, where the arbitrator concluded it was not in the best interests of the two children of the relationship to become vaccinated. A court may confirm, vary, or set aside an arbitral award, or remit it to the arbitral tribunal, under s. . . . [more]

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PROCÉDURE CIVILE : En publiant l’enregistrement d’une audience virtuelle de la Cour d’appel sur Facebook, le défendeur a contrevenu à la règle interdisant l’enregistrement et la rediffusion des audiences; par conséquent, il se voit ordonner de retirer l’enregistrement vidéo de sa page Facebook et de ne pas le publier, ni . . . [more]

“Minds have been opened and changed over the past few months,” legal author and commentator Richard Susskind wrote in a 2020 article titled The Future of Courts. “Many assumptions have been swept aside.”

The global pandemic has forced lawyers and justice system stakeholders out of their normal physical environments and into what on the surface appears to be the safe harbour of the virtual world. Remote hearings may protect us all from a virus; the platforms that make them possible may, however, have their own issues.

An internet truism is that if you’re not paying for the product, you are . . . [more]

Each Friday, we share the latest job listings from Slaw Jobs, which features employment opportunities from across the country. Find out more about these positions by following the links below, or learn how you can use Slaw Jobs to gain valuable exposure for your job ads, while supporting the great Canadian legal commentary at Slaw.ca.

Current postings on Slaw Jobs:

• Legislative Affairs Specialist (Full-time) | Remote/within commuting distance to Victoria, BC
  (Ecojustice)
• Research Resources and Inclusivity Initiatives Librarian (Full-time) | Ithaca, New York
  (Cornell University Law Library)

By Daniel Standing LL.B., Editor, First Reference Inc.

 
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice put forward several motions in a wrongful dismissal case, Kaminsky v. Janston Financial Group, 2020 ONSC Number 5320 (CanLII) via Zoom in August. The parties ended up in court following Carolyn Kaminsky’s dismissal from her position within her family’s business. The decision turned on a point of civil procedure and provides employers with insight into what they may argue at trial based on their knowledge of facts amounting to just cause at the time of dismissal. . . . [more]

Calling all Lexbox power users!

Lexum announced today that it’s looking for beta testers to try out the new Lexbox Premium service. These early adopters will get to use the service for free until the official launch; this includes up to 100 alert feeds and 5GB of storage (with more available if needed), 3rd party integration, unlimited search and hyperlinking in your documents, unlimited history and more.

See Lexum’s announcement for more details and to sign up for your beta user account. . . . [more]

Looking back on an unusual and eventful year, we can see how IP practitioners worked through the pandemic with all of its challenges. Most statistics show a significant drop in March, April and May of 2020 but by June most trends appear to be back to previous levels.

In the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, where most intellectual property matters in Canada are litigated, the following chart shows a measure of activity in the Court. This is based on the number of documents being filed with the Court and directions/orders being issued – i.e. docket entries – on . . . [more]

As we have seen in the last year, technology can improve access to justice. A new product called Courtbot is another great example of technology improving interactions with the courts.

The new App Courtbot helps remind litigants of upcoming court appearances. It is a text-messaging App based in Oklahoma.

According to its website, once clients text their case number to Courtbot, clients receive an automatic reminder of court dates. Courtbot claims that “research shows that reminders work… Around 25% of the people in Tulsa County Jail are waiting for their cases to be heard, costing taxpayers up to $25,000 per . . . [more]

The New Year is here, and with it comes the promise of new beginnings and possibilities. It is a time for setting resolutions and crafting ambitious plans for the year ahead.

And what do we all know? Making plans and setting resolutions is swiftly followed by the challenge of implementation when the deluge of day-to-day work resurges.

As one lawyer asked me recently: “How do I find the time?

An excellent question. How do we find the time when we are in a scramble of managing a myriad of emails, client needs, and administrative tasks piling up around us?

The . . . [more]