Canada’s online legal magazine.

Archive for May, 2021

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.

Practice

Putting the “Care” in “Vicarious Trauma”
Shawn Erker

Those in need of a lawyer are often in one of the most stressful experiences of their lives. Divorce proceedings, criminal accusations, or personal injury claims turn entire lives upside-down, while something as routine as the purchase of a first home can still be overwhelming. …

Research & Writing

Nevertheless and Nonetheless – or Is That None the Less?
Neil . . . [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. BC Injury Law Blog 2. David Whelan 3. Law School Life & Beyond 4. Legal Feeds 5. SOQUIJ | Le Blogue

BC Injury Law Blog
We Sue Covid Spreaders! ™

Imagine having Covid-19. Being told you have Covid-19. Being told to self isolate and taking basic steps

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

Forum Non Conveniens Online

Like it or hate it, virtual hearings are with us in some part indefinitely. With virtual witnesses, and all of the parties attending remotely, there’s certainly some savings in travel expenses.

But what about complex trials, and where trial fairness may be significantly impaired through an online format alone? Can a forum non conveniens argument be raised in this context?

A party who is outside of Ontario can move under R 17.02 Rules of Civil Procedure staying the proceeding, including if the court concludes Ontario is not a convenient forum. This is different from the real and substantial connection test, . . . [more]

Posted in: Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions

Summaries Sunday: Supreme Advocacy

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 April 10 – May 21, 2021 inclusive.

Appeals

Aboriginal Law: Hunting Rights
R. v. Desautel, 2019 BCCA 151, 2021 SCC 17 (38734)

Whether a group is an Aboriginal people of Canada is a threshold question, in the sense that if a group is not an . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

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.

PROTECTION DU CONSOMMATEUR : Le juge de première instance n’a pas commis d’erreur en concluant que le caractère véritable de l’article 260.35 de la Loi sur la protection du consommateur relève de la compétence fédérale exclusive en matière de télécommunications et qu’il est donc constitutionnellement invalide.

Intitulé : Procureur général . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

Benchmarking the Ontario Court System

Systems and entities can be evaluated by measuring inputs against outputs, and then benchmarked against peers to rank relative performance. This simplistic measurement tool may not indicate optimal performance (as a whole sector could be functioning poorly) but it can be helpful generally to identify the best and worst performing entities within a given peer group. It can likewise prove useful to identify areas in need of improvement, and when tracked over time, can identify trends in performance. In sum, benchmarking is useful to gauge the relative performance, or lack thereof, of the Ontario court system.

The function of the . . . [more]

Posted in: Justice Issues

Employer Wrongfully Dismisses Employee for Alleged Confidentiality Breach

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

In Jones v Bayview Credit Union (“Jones”), an employer wrongfully dismissed an employee due to allegations that the employee disclosed confidential client information, violating confidentiality policies and procedures. Although the employee had accessed client information in the context of providing services to another client, this practice did not breach any client’s confidentiality rights. Instead, the employee remained alert to relevant privacy issues while accessing the confidential information of one client while assisting another. . . . [more]

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

Individual Charged With $75,000 Penalty Under Canada’s Anti Spam Law (CASL)

On March 29, 2021 the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued a penalty of $75,000 under Canada’s Anti Spam Law (CASL) against an individual, Scott William Brewer, for what the CRTC described as a “series of high-volume spam campaigns”.

The CRTC alleged violations of S 6(1)(a), the requirement of consent, of CASL.[1]

The Notice of Violation alleged that Mr. Brewer committed three violations between 2015 and 21018 sending 671,342 commercial electronic messages without the consent of the recipients.

In its investigation the CRTC located no evidence that Mr. Brewer had obtained any consent from any of the recipients. . . . [more]

Posted in: Intellectual Property

USA vs. the International Criminal Court: A Fraught History in the Quest for International Accountability for Atrocity Crimes

The life of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, became easier on 2 April 2021 when United States (US) President Biden lifted harsh economic sanctions against her that had been authorised by former-President Trump on 15 June 2020 and applied on 2 September 2020. Ms. Bensouda’s nine-year term ends in June 2021, and her successor, UK lawyer Karim Khan QC, will begin his term free of the threat of US sanctions against him. Human rights advocates around the world are also breathing more easily now that their efforts to seek accountability for perpetrators of international . . . [more]

Posted in: Justice Issues

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. Ojanen v. Acumen Law Corporation, 2021 BCCA 189 (CanLII)

[57] Historically, damages in a wrongful dismissal action were limited to the loss suffered as a result of the employer’s failure to give proper notice: Addis v. Gramophone Co., [1909] A.C. 488 (H.L.). As this Court explained in Marchen v. Dams Ford Lincoln Sales Ltd., 2010 BCCA 29 at paras. . . . [more]

Posted in: Wednesday: What's Hot on CanLII

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.

Practice

Use Your Words (A 30-Day Challenge!)
Sandra Bekhor

It’s so tempting to scroll through your LinkedIn feed and ‘like’ stuff, isn’t it? There is so much pressure to show up and post something. Everyone else seems to be. But is hitting the ‘like’ button really the right response? …

Research & Writing

Past or Present?
Neil Guthrie

A student who is helping a partner with writing a book . . . [more]

Posted in: Tips Tuesday

Solving the Associate Retention Challenge With Developmental Networks

As a coach, I am intensely interested in how we – professionals in the legal sector – can help retain young lawyers in the profession.

The young lawyers I speak with have a healthy perspective. They have the types of strengths and interests that align well with a career in law. They are interested in building meaningful and rewarding careers that also leave room for a life outside of law. I believe they are vital to helping transform the practice of law for the better.

And we need to retain them in the profession.

Too many young lawyers are leaving . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law