I recently attended the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries / Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit (CALL/ACBD) held from June 25 to 28 in Montréal, and it was a highly enriching experience. The conference was meticulously organized under the theme of “Languages of Law”, offering a robust lineup of sessions and activities that catered to various interests within the law library community.

One of the standout sessions was the keynote titled “Navigating Bill 96: Legal, Linguistic, and Societal Perspectives,” presented by Jean-Pierre Corbeil and Julius Grey. This session provided valuable insights into the multifaceted implications of . . . [more]

If you need to research legislation in British Columbia, Gail Nash’s publication Legislation Made Easy has now been made freely available on BC Laws. 

This publication, well known to law librarians, is “a guide to the complexities of the various aspects of statutes, regulations and orders.” It covers such things as the legislative process, how bills, regulations and orders come into force (along with helpful flowcharts) along with some helpful definitions.

— Susannah Tredwell . . . [more]

The Canadian Open Access Legal (COAL) Citation Guide/Guide canadien de la référence juridique en accès libre (RJAL) is now available: https://canlii.ca/t/7nc6q

Over the course of two years, law librarians from across Canada worked together to create the COAL-RJAL Guide. The English version of the Guide is now freely available and hosted on CanLII (2024 CanLIIDocs 830), and the French version is in progress. The Guide is intended to be used throughout the legal field and incorporates feedback contributed by reviewers from Canadian courts, law firms, law journals, law societies, and law schools.

The COAL-RJAL . . . [more]

The bar examination landscape in the United States seems to be in a state of upheaval. The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) is in the midst of developing a new bar exam, called the Next Gen Bar. Meanwhile, California’s State Bar considered scrapping NCBE entirely and hiring Kaplan to write an exam for California.^[1] Though California has now paused this plan, it’s clear that they were looking for other options and thought it might be possible to write a new exam.

I once heard a teaching expert joke that she could teach anything. She would take a bet . . . [more]

In my last post, “The Potential for Reducing Claims with Plain Language”, I noted that poor communication is a leading cause of professional liability claims against lawyers. Convoluted client letters and emails may lead to clients making decisions on matters they don’t fully understand. A plain language approach offers the potential for reducing claims risk for lawyers and their clients in addition to making the law and legal processes more comprehensible for self-represented litigants. Fortunately, a plain language approach in legal training and an increased emphasis on plain language legal writing, including judicial decisions, is underway.

But has . . . [more]

The House of Commons adjourned for the summer on June 20, 2024. A number of federal bills received Royal Assent the same day, including two omnibus acts, Bill C-59, the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, and Bill C-69, the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1.

While not all the amendments made by these acts came into force on Royal Assent, a number of them did. However, the federal Justice Laws Website has not yet added these changes to the consolidated legislation and, based on previous patterns, the consolidated legislation will take a while to be updated.

As . . . [more]

In the dynamic realm of international sports, conflicts and disputes frequently emerge, ranging from doping allegations to contested referee decisions. Resolving these issues swiftly and impartially is paramount to maintaining the integrity of sporting competitions. Enter the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, a pivotal institution tasked with adjudicating such disputes since its inception in 1983. Particularly noteworthy, considering the sports calendar for July 2024 is the CAS Ad Hoc Division, a specialized body established to ensure justice during the Olympics. This brief post delves into the intricacies of the CAS Ad Hoc Division, its . . . [more]

If you are searching a looseleaf or text you may find it helpful to restrict your search to just the table of contents.

This can give you a more useful set of results, particularly in situations where the terms used are very common or have multiple meanings. However you may miss some relevant content if the table of contents doesn’t use the precise words or terms you are searching for.

Both Lexis+ and Westlaw Canada allow you to limit your search to the table of contents of a specific title.

Lexis+

In Lexis+, use the Table of Contents (TOC) only . . . [more]

The focus of my career has shifted from primarily creating legal information for those without legal representation to now include risk management and loss prevention for lawyers. This expanded focus has also broadened my view on the importance of plain language for our profession. The benefits of a plain language approach for self-represented litigants are clear, but it also offers the potential of reducing claims risk for lawyers and their clients.

As noted in the recent Slaw article by Jennifer Leitch, NSRLP Executive Director, “Thinking Like a Non-Lawyer: When Plain Language is Not Enough”[i], there is . . . [more]

On May 7 I received some very good news about the Library of the Supreme Court. “David S. Mao has been named the new Librarian of the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Mao will be the 12th Librarian of the Court. He succeeds Linda Maslow, who retired in August 2022 after serving 10 years as Librarian and 33 years at the Supreme Court. William Sleeman, the Court’s Assistant Librarian for Technical Services and Special Collections, has served as Acting Librarian since July 2023. Mr. Mao is expected to assume his new duties on July 1, 2024. As Librarian, . . . [more]

There are a lot of ways to characterize any event, and a good lawyer can use language to describe a situation and also advocate for their client. I learned from experienced colleagues who were teaching students this skill. The example my colleagues used was drawn from a tragic event nearby: a police shooting of a person who had not yet harmed others but who was behaving erratically and had brandished a weapon.

My colleagues used two documents from the case. The first was written by a pro-police advocate who described the scene and the confusion and fear felt by the . . . [more]

In the 1920s, Jackie Coogan became one of Hollywood’s first child stars after playing the titular role of “The Kid” alongside Charlie Chaplin. Having starred in several box office successes, Coogan’s childhood career had earned him an estimated $4 million (roughly $62 million today). When Coogan tried to access his earnings in his 20’s, however, he discovered that his mother had spent nearly his entire fortune. In response to public outcry, California passed the Coogan Act, which aimed to safeguard a portion of child actors’ earnings until they reached adulthood and to protect them from abuse and exploitation. The Coogan . . . [more]