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. Risk Management & Crisis Response 2. Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style 3. Flex Legal Blog 4. Canadian Appeals Monitor 5. Canadian Privacy Law Blog

Risk Management & Crisis Response
A tale of two regimes: the U.S. GENIUS Act and Canada’s divergent approach to stablecoin regulation

On 17 June, the U.S. Senate took a historic step for the digital asset industry by approving the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation in U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. Passed in a decisive 68-30 vote, the GENIUS Act marks the U.S.’s first comprehensive federal regulatory framework for stablecoins. Although the bill must still clear the House of Representatives and be signed into law by President Donald Trump, its passage signals a significant shift in the regulatory landscape for digital currencies in the United States. …

Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style
Rethinking the defence-law business model

In 2019, during Lindsay Board’s first trial as an associate at Daniel Brown Law LLP, she witnessed her new boss do something remarkable. The defence firm’s eponymous founder asked the judge to end early for the day so he could get home for his son’s birthday celebrations. “It sounds small,” says Board. “But I’d never seen someone senior, particularly a man, be so transparent about asking for what they needed for work-life balance, especially in court.” She had joined the firm that year, as a second-year lawyer, from a litigation boutique—where she’d primarily practised in corporate-commercial litigation but also had just enough exposure to criminal cases to spark a passion and a career pivot. It was striking, so early in Board’s criminal-defence career, to watch someone as established as Brown publicly choose to make space for his personal life. “That kind of thing is really important to see.” …

Flex Legal Blog
“The Modern Freelance Lawyer”: New Book By Our CEO Erin Cowling

After more than a decade building Flex Legal Network and championing freelance lawyering across Canada, our Founder & CEO Erin Cowling has put pen to paper to share her insights, experiences, and hard-earned lessons in a new book: “The Modern Freelance Lawyer: A Guide to the Business, Ethics, and Evolution of Freelance Legal Work.“ This is the first book of its kind in Canada, written specifically for lawyers who are curious about working freelance and for those who want to work with them. …

Canadian Appeals Monitor
Federal Court of Appeal Rules that Courts Can’t Tell Government to Fill Judicial Vacancies

In Canada (Prime Minister) v. Hameed,^[1] the Federal Court of Appeal set aside a controversial lower court ruling that declared, among other things, that judicial vacancies must be filled within a reasonable time. The Court of Appeal sent a clear message on the importance of the separation of powers, noting that its decision was “an important reminder” for branches of government to maintain “reciprocal respect and deference” for other branches of government. …

Canadian Privacy Law Blog
Materially misleading statements in the Charter Statement for Bill C-2’s Lawful Access provisions

The government of Canada – specifically the Minister of Justice – just released its “Charter Statement” regarding Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act. I’m particularly focused on the “lawful access” provisions in the Bill, and I read it with interest to see how the government thinks the expanded government access to data is compatible with Section 8 of the Charter. Section 8 prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.In the Charter Statement, the Minister significantly mischaracterizes his own bill in a manner that makes it appear more Charter-compliant. It could be a handful of honest mistakes, but I’m getting more cynical as my hair gets more grey. (The two may be connected, now that I think about it.) …

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*Randomness here is created by Random.org and its list randomizing function.