While it is still early days, it is probably safe to say that if the Trinity Western 2018 decision[1] becomes a long-standing case of note, it will be because of its significance regarding Charter principles and not because of the role it played in the furtherance of administrative law.[2] Most of the ink (or electrons) spilled in the months and years leading up to the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision was not because Canadians – lawyers and lay-people alike – were anticipating the latest pronouncement on standard of review or procedural fairness or jurisdiction. The primary interest . . . [more]

This is the third of a series of blogs, the first of which was published on February 12^th, 2018, highlighting the various papers, studies, and pilot projects conducted by the Cyberjustice Laboratory throughout the course of its “Towards Cyberjustice” Project. Funded by a Major Collaborative Research Grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, this seven-year project has finally drawn to a close and will be the subject of a detailed report to be released later this year. In anticipation of this upcoming report, this blog post will briefly describe its second chapter, which details the . . . [more]

At a UN summit in 2015, world leaders identified 17 universal threats to the well-being, safety and advancement of people worldwide and to environmental sustainability. The result was the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Officially in effect since January 2016, the SDGs aim to galvanize national and international efforts around an agenda that promotes equity, empowerment and certain fundamental rights and improvements. The target date to reach these goals is 2030.[1]

Notable for the justice community is the addition of Goal 16, which has the object to: “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice . . . [more]

This article is for you if you have a dream about your career that you think may not be possible.

Some dreams are worth pursuing, even if they take a while to achieve. I know this for sure because this summer, after more than a decade of step-by-step progress, I am living mine.

I have a home on Salt Spring Island, and my dream has been to live and work from there full time. This summer I am spending two full months on the island working from my home office,

It all began back in November 2003 when my wife . . . [more]

Law societies shouldn’t accredit law schools that have discriminatory admissions policies. In my view, this statement has always been morally true. But we now know that this statement is legally true thanks to the Supreme Court of Canada’s decisions in the two recent TWU cases (see, here and here).

The Court’s analysis in both cases purportedly proceeded under a “reasonableness” standard of review and, thus, professed not to speak directly to the ultimate correctness of the law societies’ refusals to accredit a proposed law school that, to use the Court’s words, “effectively bars many LGBTQ people from attending.” Viewed . . . [more]

Precedent figures heavily in most law practises, so it’s understandable that lawyers would rely heavily on past experiences and belief systems in the running of their lives. Life experience can create wisdom. It can also lead to our greatest weak spots. In over twenty years of coaching lawyers, my primary goal has been to help them to identify and overcome old belief systems that are no longer working for them but that they continue to use to the detriment of their careers.

For example:

• A lawyer who is held back from partnership because of a lack of delegation, but can’t

Canada’s anti-spam law (CASL) addresses much more than unwanted commercial messages. CASL also prohibits, among other things, installation of software onto a person’s computer without consent. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) exercises enforcement powers in respect of the software provisions of CASL.

The CRTC reported on July 11, 2018 that their Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer has issued Notices of Violation to Datablocks and Sunlight Media for allegedly aiding in the installation of malicious computer programs through the distribution of online advertising. This is the first time the CRTC has taken action against the installation of malicious software . . . [more]

The federal government’s “Budget 2017,” Innovation Canada project has led to the badly drafted National Standard of Canada, Electronic Records as Documentary Evidence CAN/CGSB-72.34-2017 (“72.34-2017”). It should not be relied upon to conduct any business, government or other transaction based upon the reliability and integrity of electronically-produced records. And so, on July 11, 2018, I, Ken Chasse, notified: (1) the Standards Council of Canada, being the agency that declared it to be a national standard; and, (2) the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. On, July 20, 2018, I received the Standards Council’s reply, and on July . . . [more]

Summer provides options. You can slow down, take more time, slack a little around the office or you can use it as a time to refocus where you are going when things ramp up in September. Some offices are very busy in the summer and don’t have time to think of the coming seasons. Of course there is always time for business development, no matter which category you fall into.

If you are lucky enough to step away for a bit in the summer, great you deserve it. We all need to recharge and time away from the office is . . . [more]

The international football (soccer) circus known as the FIFA World Cup rolls around every four years and I spend way too much of the early summer watching the games. The best place to watch, I think, is an outdoor patio, preferably surrounded by partisans of one or both of the contenders. In Toronto it’s easy to find supporters for every team in the tournament.

This year, the games were played at either late morning or early afternoon Toronto time. Downtown office buildings have giant screens in lobbies or food courts so fans don’t have to sneak too far away from . . . [more]

What should people who want to practice law have to do before they are licensed? This perennial debate has bloomed once again. The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) is seeking feedback on its Options for Lawyer Licensing consultation paper (Slaw summary here). Two of the LSO’s four options would abolish articling. Candidates would instead have to pass exams covering both legal skills and substantive knowledge. There would also be a law practice program, either required for all candidates (LSO’s Option 4) or only for those practicing in smaller firms (Option 3).

Thinking of licensing in terms of footbridges over . . . [more]

Well, it’s finally here. In the fall of 2017, a vulnerability in WPA2 wireless encryption was discovered. Known as the Krack Attack, the flaw impacts every implementation of WPA2. The manufacturers needed to provide a patch update to fix the flaw. The Wi-Fi Alliance has now announced the availability of the WPA3 standard (to be implemented in certified devices starting later this year), vastly improving security over WPA2, which has been around for over 15 years and should be the current WiFi encryption of choice. WPA3 provides a new security protocol that contains improvements in terms of configuration, authentication and . . . [more]