I’ll be writing about law firms less frequently in future, for reasons outlined here. But given how critical I’ve been about the way in which lawyers run their firms, I thought I’d share with you news of a growing movement in the business world that could bring about monumental change for law firms.

My fundamental critique of law firms isn’t the billable hour or rampant inefficiency or the resistance to innovation — it’s the apparent absence of any real purpose to the firm beyond the enrichment of its partners.

I’ve been telling audiences for a while now that a . . . [more]

Recently “Zoom Cat-lawyer” revealed a lot about the legal profession. Its seriousness. Its humour (or lack thereof). Its low tolerance for mistakes.

In the Zoom call, the lawyer was unable to quickly remove the filter by himself. The judge and opposing counsel seemed to have little patience for his technological incompetence.

In “Think Again”, Professor Adam Grant writes “Sharing our imperfections can be risky if we haven’t yet established our competence. In studies, lawyers and teachers searching for jobs, expressing themselves authentically increased the odds of getting job offers if they were rated in the 90th percentile or above for . . . [more]

Practical skills training is currently a popular topic in legal education discourse. Beyond whether and how to increase “practice-ready” skills training in Canadian law schools, much of the discussion is focused on what practical skills should be included as part of a law student’s education–advocacy, legal drafting, legal writing, negotiation and practice management being some of the most frequent candidates. An essential lawyerly skill which is seldom explicitly mentioned in this conversation and which is in dire need of more attention in any discussion of legal education is that of civility.

Typical dictionary definitions of civility reference polite or courteous . . . [more]

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and which French-language case have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about.

For this last week:

1. R. v. Le, 2019 SCC 34 (CanLII)

[160] In view of our application of the three Grant lines of inquiry to the facts of this appeal, and with great respect to the courts below, we do not find this to be a close call. The police crossed a bright line when, without permission or reasonable grounds, they entered into a private . . . [more]

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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

There Are Some Hard to Find Foreign Cases on CanLII
Susannah Tredwell

One of CANLII’s lesser known resources is its Foreign reported decisions database which “includes some decisions issued by foreign courts and tribunals and that are of special interest for Canadian law.” … . . . [more]

Territories all over the world come in different shapes, sizes and with a diverse range of government power as well as statutory and constitutional constraints. Despite the usage of the same term, territories vary tremendously from country to country. They may be considered integral constituents of the countries they belong to or an unincorporated, detached or loosely linked separate jurisdiction.

Born in a territory myself, I have always been interested in the legal frameworks in which territories are created, and how they (d)evolve over time especially in times of crises. To that end, I had the opportunity to coordinate a . . . [more]

Over the past year of researching legal technology and learning more systemic ways of thinking about the future, I have become quite interested in the discipline of futurism especially the work of Amy Webb. What most interests me about it is looking at the present and trying to extrapolate what current trends mean for the future in the short, medium, and long terms. I am less interested in looking out many years and saying what I think will happen without showing the work of how I got there, so here is my view of the legal technology, practice, and information . . . [more]

Lawyers tend to get excited when the courts create a new tort, and for good reason. The judiciary is reluctant to instigate such reform to the common law absent compelling facts, and a strong societal need for them to do so.

In Seneca College v. Bhadauria, the Court of Appeal found that a cause of action existed for the tort of discrimination, on the basis that the Ontario Human Rights Code,

18 I regard the preamble to the Code as evidencing what is now, and probably has been for some considerable time, the public policy of this Province

One Sunday each month we bring you a summary from Supreme Advocacy LLP of recent decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Advocacy LLP offers a weekly electronic newsletter, Supreme Advocacy Letter, to which you may subscribe. It’s a summary of all Appeals, Oral Judgments and Leaves to Appeal granted from January 1 – February 5, 2021 inclusive.

Appeals

Contracts: Duty to Exercise Contractual Discretion
Wastech Services Ltd. v. Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District, 2019 BCCA 66; 2021 SCC 7 (38601)

The duty to exercise contractual discretion is breached only where the discretion is exercised . . . [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.

DROITS ET LIBERTÉS : Un homme noir a fait l’objet d’un traitement différencié et inhabituel de la part des policiers de la Ville de Gatineau alors qu’il a été interpellé, détenu, fouillé ainsi qu’arrêté et qu’il a reçu un constat d’infraction sans motif sérieux ou raisonnable; en l’espèce, les comportements . . . [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:

• Director, People and Culture (Full-time) | Remote/Vancouver, BC
  (Ecojustice)
• Legislative Affairs Specialist (Full-time) | Remote/within commuting distance to Victoria, BC
  (Ecojustice)