The law is built on information. And with rapid advances in technology, the volume of legal information is immense and growing exponentially. It can be difficult to keep up. There are countless gigabytes of digital data on computers, phones, tablets, servers, and the Cloud, accessed anywhere and everywhere through the interface of a digital screen. Emails, text messages, and attachments are sent and replied to and forwarded hither and yon; electronic records are stored and deleted, sometimes following established protocols, often not. Technology evolves, and the hard drive of today soon becomes the floppy disk drive of tomorrow.

The law . . . [more]

Yesterday (June 12) in Vancouver, leaders of BC’s justice system came together to endorse the Access to Justice Triple Aim.

The one goal of improving access to justice in BC has three interrelated elements:

1. improving population access to justice
2. improving the user experience of access to justice and
3. improving costs (as they relate to access to justice).

Each participating organization has committed to a common goal to improve access to justice in BC and to action to pursue that goal. How organizations choose to act is for them to decide within the context of their respective mandates.

Implicit in . . . [more]

For the past couple years, Courthouse Libraries BC (CLBC) has been working with a committee of BC family law professionals to help them realize their vision for a “Family Law Organizer”. As of June 2019, CLBC is pleased to announce FLO’s relaunch with a much improved (and larger) collection of features and resources to connect and help practitioners. FLO’s community statement reads:

FLO is a community of legal professionals established to improve the practice of family law by encouraging dialogue and the free exchange of knowledge, building relationships within the family law bar and related professions, sharing precedents, papers and

Today, Slaw Tips hit a remarkable milestone: one thousand tips!

Launched in 2011, the site’s very first tips dealt with turning off pop-up email notifications, finding moved web pages and preventing your firm’s star performers from being poached–all still relevant today.

Our current and past contributors are a talented team of practicing lawyers, librarians, consultants and entrepreneurs–smart folks who generously share their wisdom with our 15,000 monthly visitors.

We tip our hats (pun fully intended!) to all our past and present Tips authors: thank you for sharing your insight, skill, humour and enthusiasm with the Slaw community. . . . [more]

Ontario’s justice system is fast approaching a digital crossroads.

New technologies, including algorithms, automated decision-making and artificial intelligence (AI), are set to challenge our long-standing assumptions and practices regarding human rights, due process and access to justice.

How well do justice system professionals understand these technologies? What are the broad legal implications of adopting AI in the justice system? How can or should the justice system regulate these challenges?

These questions, and more, will be addressed in a free half-day educational event on Wednesday, May 15^th presented by the Law Commission of Ontario, Osgoode Hall Law School and . . . [more]

Why Now?

Knowledge of summary conviction offences is more important than ever. Summary convictions are predominately the largest criminal work in the provincial court (ON) accounting for over 98%. Further, it is expected that an expansion of summary conviction offence cases will be coming down the pipeline, and Canadians will soon see changes in the limitation period and punishments in summary convictions.

Who?

As a legal professional who defends or prosecutes summary conviction offences, it’s important that you have a clear grasp on how to effectively advocate your case. You may be experienced in court, but have you ever received . . . [more]

The Walter Owen Book Prize, awarded by the Canadian Foundation For Legal Research, recognizes exceptional legal research and writing that contribute significantly to Canadian legal literature.

The Prize, now $15,000.00, was created in celebration of the life of Walter Owen, Q.C., P.C., prominent member of the Law Society of British Columbia, former Lieutenant Governor of that province, past President of the Canadian Bar Association and founding President of what is now the Canadian Foundation For Legal Research.

ELIGIBILITY

• A book, substantial in nature, which is an entirely new work (or a previous title’s complete revision), judged by the Prize Jury

Two student-led organizations recently contacted me with their Call for Submissions announcements. While we don’t wish Slaw to become a hub for press releases, I do generally like to help out student groups. Hopefully Slaw readers will also find these interesting.

The first is McGill’s 2019 Annual Law Graduate Conference, scheduled for May 8-9, 2019 in Montreal. The theme of this year’s conference: “Law: Proactive or Reactive”; and the call for submissions can be found on the event website at: https://www.mcgill.ca/agcl/

Any questions, contact the GLSA committee by email at gradlawconference.law@mcgill.ca.

Secondly, the Western Journal of Legal . . . [more]

[A side note for . . . [more]

I’m pleased to announce a new member of the Slaw family of websites — Slaw Jobs, a Canadian legal job listings service aimed at connecting job seekers with opportunities in the Canadian market.

Since our friend Simon retired in 2014, Slaw hasn’t changed much. There’s good reason for that. Everyone at Stem Legal knows that I take our role as caretaker seriously; and that we are very committed to maintaining Slaw’s culture. So when we started to discuss trying to find a new revenue stream to support the endless hours that we invest here, I wanted to find a . . . [more]

Over the years, Slaw has been fortunate to create numerous partnerships with many Canadian legal associations and groups, with the goal of providing a platform for these groups to share their views and expertise with a broader audience. We’ve also found ways to extend the reach of Canadian legal publishers, including excerpts in our Thursday Thinkpiece feature and of course, our Sunday case law summaries from SOQUIJ, Supreme Advocacy and OnPoint Legal Research.

Today I’m pleased to announce a new content partnership formed by Slaw and the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD).

Slaw readers will soon be seeing book . . . [more]

The Western Journal of Legal Studies, a “student-run, online, open access law review focusing on contributions to Canadian law and international law” has put out a call for submissions:

Do you have an “A” level law paper? The Western Journal of Legal Studies is seeking academic research papers, white papers, opinion-editorials, and book reviews. All submissions received by Friday, September 28th will be considered for publication in our Fall issue. We assess submissions using a two-part blind peer review, and as such, all submissions will remain entirely anonymous throughout the process. Submissions received after this date will be considered