“The value we create is directly related to how much valuable information we can produce, how much trust we can earn, and how often we innovate.”
– Seth Godin, Author

I have been thinking a lot about value lately. For so many of us, work is busier than ever and our social calendars are finally starting to fill up again. But, as legal marketers, it can sometimes feel like you are doing everything in the world but, accomplishing virtually nothing at all. How does one maximize and demonstrate their value? How can a law firm provide meaningful value to . . . [more]

Political scientists yearn for the day when party policy has the most significant weight in democratic elections. Instead, snappy slogans and flash ideas usually are more effective at attracting the attention of the electorate.

Still, when a government is elected, they are required to implement ideas through policy. This is usually done in the form of mandate letters to cabinet ministers, which outlines the objectives they will work to accomplish, and the inherent challenges the minister is facing in this role.

In a free and open democracy, should the public have access to these mandate letters? On one hand, the . . . [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.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : Le juge a commis une erreur de droit dans l’analyse de la légitime défense puisqu’il n’a pas tenu compte adéquatement du rôle joué par l’appelant au cours de l’incident ni de la nature de ses fonctions, se concentrant plutôt sur le coup de poing porté et les . . . [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:

• Lawyer (Full-time) | Etobicoke, ON
  (Kostyniuk & Greenside Lawyers)
• Tax Lawyer – Canadian Sales Tax (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Thorsteinssons LLP)
• Real Estate Legal Assistant (Full-time) | Abbotsford, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group LLP)
• Litigation Association (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Bernard

The family justice system masks family violence. There does not seem to be a dominant consideration of safety, including where there is family violence, beyond the best interests of a child analysis giving primary consideration to the child’s safety (see: Divorce Act, RSC 1985, c 3 2nd Supp, s 16(2)). Research shows that lawyers will advise their clients not to raise family violence as an issue, for fear of retribution and because the justice system does not recognize it properly. When women do make claims of family violence, abusers will make counterclaims of alienation (as an excuse for why the . . . [more]

Written by Daniel Standing LL.B., Editor, published by First Reference Inc.

Thankfully, many employers will never have to deal with the aftermath of a physical confrontation that happens in the workplace. But if a fight occurs, the employer is faced with some unique challenges, both in terms of investigating and in meting out punishment to those involved. The recent Ontario arbitration case, Michael Garron Hospital and SEIU, Local 1 Canada (Khan) Re, 2022 CarswellOnt 795, puts these challenges in context and provides a useful precedent to employers who must deal with this unsavoury situation.

Background

Rayard Khan and Michael . . . [more]

Before I became a lawyer, I had this naive T.V. inspired understanding of the justice system. Anyone who went to court had a lawyer to advocate for them, unless they were nuts or had a genius level intellect, but in either case the gallery would gasp when the self represented litigant announced, “I am representing myself”.

However, the reality I came to know after becoming a lawyer myself is that the majority of people engaging with the Canadian justice system have no choice but to represent themselves at some stage in their legal proceedings.

Since taking on my first family . . . [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. J.N. v. C.G., 2022 ONSC 1198

[26] I won’t belabor the point, because I still have to get to my real job: determining what’s in the best interests of these two children. But the word needs to get out that while the court system won’t punish intolerance, it certainly won’t reward it either.

[27] All parenting issues – including health issues . . . [more]

The task of a [decision-maker] is to find the golden mean, to “decant and simplify,” to synthesize the evidence and make the necessary findings; the task is not to be a court reporter.

Welton v. United Lands Corporation Limited, 2020 ONCA 322

Writing is one thing, but rewriting is the real messy thing.

William Germano, “On Revision: the only writing that counts”

Courts are very good at giving advice to administrative decision-makers on how to write reasonable decisions, but often that advice is too general. In Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65 (at . . . [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

An Apostrophe Catastrophe™ From Someone Who Ought to Know Better
Neil Guthrie

Seen in an e-mail from one of the big legal publishers (there are really only two, so that narrows it down; emphasis added): … . . . [more]

At an early point in my career as a librarian, I became exasperated with colleagues who loved teaching legal citation, and I proposed holding a ceremonial burning of some copies of the Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation at the end of that year of law school. I still believe that our students might find it cathartic to burn their bluebooks just before graduation. Thankfully, my colleague reminded me that book burning is antithetical to the core values of librarianship, and over time I hated citations less as I began to understand them better.

This week I found myself unexpectedly . . . [more]