Canada’s online legal magazine.

Archive for March, 2021

Pattern Seekers: Identifying Neurodiversity in the Law

Are you a systemizer? In Patter Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention, Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen (Professor and Director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University) discusses the significance of systemizing to inventions. He posits that humans have a special kind of engine in the brain. They seek out if-and-then patterns. This way of thinking developed about 70,000 to 100,000 years ago, when the first humans began to make complex tools.

Dr. Baron-Cohen categorizes the brain into 5 different types based on their balance between empathy and systemizing. Empathizers are very comfortable with people, chat easily, easily tune into . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law

Wednesday: What’s Hot on CanLII

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. Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2021 SCC 11 (CanLII)

[1] In 2018, Parliament enacted the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, S.C. 2018, c. 12, s. 186 (“GGPPA”). Three provinces challenged the constitutionality of the GGPPA by references to their respective courts of appeal. The question divided the courts. In split decisions, the courts of appeal for Saskatchewan . . . [more]

Posted in: Wednesday: What's Hot on CanLII

Are You Getting Paid Fairly? a Primer

One way to look at whether your salary is fair is to understand how a law firm calculates your value. We’re going to look at the numbers behind such a calculation with a concrete example and assume you’re a lawyer making $100,000 a year. This is intended only as a primer – adjust the numbers and add/subtract factors according to your own facts.

What is your value to a firm? Profit, of course

There are two bottom-line numbers to calculate your value to a firm in terms of profit: how much money you make for the firm, and how much . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law

Claims Against ISPs Under the Notice and Notice Regime

Canada uniquely provides a notice and notice regime by which copyright owners can require an ISP to forward notices of alleged infringement to a suspected typically anonymous internet user claimed to be infringing the owner’s copyright.

Courts describe one of the purposes of the notice-and-notice regime is “to provide copyright holders the information they need in order to bring infringement actions against suspected violators, who will usually be Internet users whose identities are unknown to the copyright holders, but known to the respective ISPs”.[1]

The Supreme Court has also described a purpose of the notice and notice regime was . . . [more]

Posted in: Intellectual Property

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 practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Are You Doing Your Utmost or Your Upmost?
Neil Guthrie

To do one’s utmost is to make the maximum possible effort: We will do our utmost to meet the deadline imposed by the regulator. What one sometimes sees (or, more often, hears) is upmost instead of utmost. Close, but no cigar. … . . . [more]

Posted in: Tips Tuesday

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 more than 80 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. Crossroad Family Law Blog 2. Mack’s Criminal Law Blog 3. Library Boy 4. Global Workplace Insider 5. Canadian Appeals Monitor

Crossroad Family Law Blog
How do I get retroactive child support?

Retroactive support issues are often reported by our clients. Here we look at the list of

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

Saving Canada From Climate Change, at the Expense of Federalism

Climate change is the single greatest existential threat facing Canada. Greater than terrorism. Greater than cyber attacks on our digital infrastructure. Even greater than the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite this, Canada has failed miserably in responding to this threat, despite knowing about it for decades. The reasons for this ultimately come down to politics, and narrow interests far too often confined by political cycles.

In 2019, Canada’s independent environment auditor, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, released a report which stated,

As Commissioner, I was proud to present the results of the first truly national picture of climate

. . . [more]
Posted in: Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions

Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ

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.

ACTION COLLECTIVE (RECOURS COLLECTIF) : Estimant détenir une créance conditionnelle à la suite de l’approbation de leurs honoraires, les avocats des représentants demandent la communication de l’identité et des coordonnées des membres du groupe; toutefois, étant donné que leur objectif ultime semble être d’obtenir des honoraires additionnels en intentant éventuellement . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

Friday Jobs Roundup

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:

. . . [more]
Posted in: Friday Jobs Roundup

Employee’s Delay Not Condoning of Constructive Dismissal

Lewis Waring, Paralegal, Student-at-law, Editor, First Reference Inc.

In McGuinty v 1845035 Ontario Inc (McGuinty Funeral Home) (“McGuinty”), an employee who returned to the workplace after an extended leave was found to have been constructively dismissed despite the fact that he had continued to work after the event leading to his constructive dismissal had taken place. McGuinty is important because it shows employers that a possible constructive dismissal claim does not necessarily go away once an employee returns to the workplace. In other words, a constructive dismissal claim does not require that an employee no longer comes into the office. . . . [more]

Posted in: Case Comment, Substantive Law, Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions

Digital Economy Partnership Agreement

Recently Singapore, New Zealand and Chile signed an agreement on how they will run their trading relationships in the electronic age: the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA). It spells out how the parties will carry on business electronically, including the basic legal framework (UNCITRAL Model Law on E-Commerce, Electronic Communication Convention (and parties ‘shall endeavour’ to adopt the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records), operation of a Single Window for customs and transit documents, and many other elements of trade in the modern era.

The obligations are set out in the context of the WTO, including its Trade Facilitation Agreement . . . [more]

Posted in: International issues, ulc_ecomm_list

Thursday Thinkpiece: Temporary Entry Into the Canadian Labour Market

Periodically on Thursdays, we present a significant excerpt, usually from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

Temporary Entry into the Canadian Labour Market

Series: Immigration Law Series
Authors: Stephen Green, Alexandra Cole, Cristina Guida and Peter Salerno
General Editors: Chantal Desloges & Cathryn Sawicki
ISBN: 978-1-77462-011-3
Publisher: Emond Publishing
Page Count: 462
Publication Date: February 2021
Regular Price: $99

Excerpt: Chapter 5 “Authorization to Work Without a Work . . . [more]

Posted in: Thursday Thinkpiece