A recent article in an American legal periodical highlighted what I believe is the irreconcilable problem with large full-service law firms in that market. The title — “Tensions Ripple Through Partnerships As Law Firm Culture Shifts to Bottom Line Focus” gives away the plot, but a couple of illustrative excerpts are worth sharing:

More law firms are moving to adopt a business-first approach, shifting away from traditional demands on firm partners. At Skadden, Arps, new firm leader Jeremy London has begun requiring their partners to put together business plans laying out their plans for high performance. … “

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) : La Cour annule la peine d’emprisonnement que la juge de première instance, qui s’est appuyée sur des facteurs aggravants qui n’en étaient pas vraiment, a imposée à l’accusé, un photographe professionnel déclaré coupable de possession de matériel de pornographie juvénile; elle ordonne que l’accusé purge une peine . . . [more]

Before J.D. Vance, we had our own cat lady, Twiss—an unapologetic lover of cats and Cats. Twiss, along with a cast of other lovable characters and a fantastic script inspired by the great Shakespearean actress Seana McKenna, is set to take the stage at the Palmerston Public Library Theatre (Toronto) from October 25-27.

Watching Seana McKenna Watch Paint Dry is exactly what it sounds like—the title doesn’t mislead. A group of people attend a play to watch Seana McKenna watch paint dry. And why not? She’s Seana McKenna, after all. She’s that good. But as Cecil, the logical character, . . . [more]

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.

Music Borrowing and Copyright Law: A Genre-by-Genre Analysis. Edited by Enrico Bonadio & Chen Wei Zhu. Oxford: Hart, 2023. xviii, 464 p. Includes bibliographic references and index. ISBN 9781509949380 (hardcover) $249.75; ISBN 9781509949397 (ePub) $199.80; ISBN 9781509949403 (PDF) $199.80.

Reviewed by Hannah Rosborough
Instruction & Scholarly Communications Librarian
Sir James . . . [more]

The August 2024 prisoner exchange involving Russia, the United States, and several other countries has been lauded as a triumph of international diplomacy. Foreign hostages were not the only people released by Russia. Rights advocates were joyfully surprised and relieved that several Russian human rights defenders and political prisoners were released as part of the deal.

The August hostage exchange remains darkly tinged with the reality that Russia continues to hold over 1,300 prisoners on politically motivated charges. Worldwide, wrongfully detained people number at least a million. Authoritarian governments also conduct extraterritorial harassment to silence dissidents living abroad.

This column . . . [more]

Unless you are one of those legendary litigators who focuses on court and leaves all of their writing to someone else, lawyers spend a lot of time writing. It would be wonderful if legal and professional writing escaped the demons of creative writing, but in my experience, the demons of procrastination and self-doubt and the lure of online shopping can only be overcome by the looming dread of a deadline or the personal guilt of a missed deadline. It’s impossible for one book to banish a writer’s demons, but this summer a pair of complementary books brought me tiny slivers . . . [more]

Keep a record of research questions you have answered and the next time you have a demonstration of a new product, use one or more of these questions (amended as appropriate). You get a much better idea of how a resource performs when you can compare its results to what you have retrieved using other resources than you do from a vendor’s prepared searches.

Alternatively, when a product is being demonstrated to end users, encourage attendees to bring questions that they have run into recently to the session. It is much easier for for users to evaluate the quality of . . . [more]

At the LSBC’s AGM tomorrow, several member resolutions will be up for a vote. Among them is a controversial resolution (Resolution 3) submitted by two BC lawyers that calls for changes to certain language in the LSBC’s Indigenous Intercultural Course. The language at issue references an unmarked burial site at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Various legal organizations have condemned Resolution 3 as being, among other things, “alarming Residential School denialism”, “an attack on the principles of Truth and Reconciliation”, an “insidious attempt to distort history” and as “undermin[ing] engagement with Indigenous communities”.

Resolution 3 follows . . . [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) : La Cour rejette l’appel de la peine d’emprisonnement à perpétuité imposée à un jeune membre de gang de rue qui a tenté d’assassiner un homme devant chez lui au moyen d’une arme «fantôme»; compte tenu des circonstances du crime, du profil de l’accusé et des facteurs aggravants, . . . [more]

Patents have a reputation of being difficult to read and understand and a key part of most patent litigation proceedings is ‘construing’ or providing meaning to the claims of the patent. A recent decision of the Federal Court considered a series of claims which it determined were not possible to be understood – the claims were ambiguous. As a result, the claims were declared invalid.

Declaring claims invalid for being ambiguous is rarely done in Canada. Various decisions have held over the years that claims are invalid for being ambiguous only if it is not possible to give the claim . . . [more]

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.

Against the Odds: The Indigenous Rights Cases of Thomas R. Berger

Author & Editor: Drew Ann Wake
Publisher: Durvile
Foreword by Hamar Foster KC, Afterword by Shaznay Waugh
Release Date: September 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781990735486 (pbk)
Also available as ebook and audiobook
Page Count: 6” x 9” | 320 Pages
Regular Price: . . . [more]