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Archive for September, 2022

Thursday Thinkpiece: Lussier & Stechly on Decolonizing the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation

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.

“Other Materials”—Traitorous Love and Decolonizing the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation
(2022) 53:2 Ottawa Law Review 302, 2022 CanLIIDocs 1622

Dr. Danielle Lussier (@daniellelussier) is a Métis mother, beadwork artist, and lawyer from Treaty 1 and the Homeland of the Métis Nation. She currently serves as Associate Vice-Principal Indigenous . . . [more]

Posted in: Thursday Thinkpiece

Partnership – Is It for You?

Sandy, a seven-year call, just had her annual review. The partners are thrilled with her performance and are starting to discuss partnership. But Sandy is wondering, is this something she wants?

For many associates partnership is no longer an attractive goal.

Many young lawyers look at partners’ lives and don’t see the appeal. The long hours, the burden of administrative tasks, and the high-stress levels don’t have much of a draw.

What if partnership offered more than this?

What if stepping into partnership meant greater agency over your career and a way to help create a better work environment for . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law

Wednesday: What’s Hot on CanLII

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

For this last week, the three most-consulted English-language decisions were:

1. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov2019 SCC 65

[1] This appeal and its companion cases (see Bell Canada v. Canada (Attorney General), 2019 SCC 66 (CanLII)), provide this Court with an opportunity to re-examine its approach to judicial review of administrative decisions.

[2] In these reasons, we will . . . [more]

Posted in: Wednesday: What's Hot on CanLII

The Myth Busting Legal Marketing Program

“Simple ideas are easier to understand. Ideas that are easier to understand are repeated.
Ideas that are repeated change the world.”
– Simon Sinek, Author & Speaker

There are a lot of things I love about working at a small law firm. Access to lawyers and senior leaders is more frequent, building relationships with everyone across the firm is actually achievable, and getting real-time insights into the practice of law happens daily. But for me, the main feature has been the ability to implement simple ideas, that demonstrate my experience and expertise, quickly and effectively.

If you are a sole . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Book Review: Legal Data and Information in Practice

Have you had a chance to read CanLII President & CEO Sarah Sutherland’s new book, Legal Data and Information in Practice?

Over at the ICLR Blog, Paul Magrath recently posted a review the book and notes:

“[t]his short, clear book is a very good introduction for lawyers and information professionals. … All things considered, this is an area where both the pace and scope of development and the increasing awareness of social and ethical concerns justify paying attention to the subject, and for that this book is an excellent primer.”

If you jump over the pond, you’ll find . . . [more]

Posted in: Book Reviews, Legal Information

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

Licensure
Neil Guthrie

This is becoming more common in regulatory law in Canada, but it’s unnecessary. It’s fairly old – OED gives citations going back to the mid nineteenth century. The word is listed there as an Americanism. … . . . [more]

Posted in: Tips Tuesday

Inadvertent Disclosure and the Alex Jones Debacle

Last month, a Texas lawyer’s “stunning” failure to comply with professional conduct rules and discovery obligations made international headlines.

The errors occurred in the context of a high-profile defamation case. Ultimately, a jury ordered Alex Jones—a far-right radio host and conspiracy theorist with millions of listeners—to pay nearly $50 million to the parents of a child killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. Jones had repeatedly (falsely) asserted that the mass shooting was a hoax in which the children’s families were complicit, in service of a government plot to take away Americans’ firearms.

Mark Bankston, . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Ethics

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. Pension & Benefits Law 2. Crossroad Family Law Blog 3. Inter Alia: UOttawa Faculty of Common Law Student Magazine 4. Condo Adviser 5. Hull & Hull Blog

Pension & Benefits Law
CAPSA releases draft guidelines on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations in pension plan management

On

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

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.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : Les erreurs de principe commises par le juge de première instance et l’importance démesurée donnée aux objectifs de dénonciation et de dissuasion l’ont mené à imposer une peine manifestement non indiquée; par conséquent, un sursis de peine est substitué à la peine d’emprisonnement de 6 mois imposée . . . [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

Specialized Contractor Can Do More Than One Thing

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

A recent decision of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, 2022 CanLII 5411 (ON LRB), could make waves in the construction industry for its redefining the concept of a specialty scaffolding contractor. Departing from the oversimplified notion that a speciality scaffolding contractor does nothing but scaffolding, the Board adopted a contextualized approach by examining the contractor’s devotion of time and resources to scaffolding to determine the matter. . . . [more]

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

Book Review: Wilson on Children and the Courtroom

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Wilson on Children and the Courtroom. By John P. Schuman, Farrah Hudani & Jeffery Wilson. Toronto: LexisNexis Canada, 2020. xxiii, 164 p. Includes table of contents, table of cases, and index. ISBN 9780433509905 (softcover) $140.00.

Reviewed by Lori O’Connor
Public Prosecutions
Melfort, SK
In CLLR 47:2

Wilson on Children and . . . [more]

Posted in: Book Reviews