One of my highlights at Davos this year was a closed meeting with the newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. We were with a small group of international civil society organisations from the field of human rights, rule of law and peace. The meeting was held under the Chatham House rule so I will not disclose what others or the PM said. Nothing in that rule however prevents me from telling you what I contributed.

Each time I am at Davos I marvel about how many great ideas for solving global and national challenges I come across. Poverty, education, . . . [more]

The latest edition of the CBA National, the magazine of the Canadian Bar Association, had a feature story on a topic that’s started to gain attention recently in Canada.

The legal profession is undergoing an era of profound change, influenced by technology, new business structures, globalization, and the high cost of justice. New skills and tools are needed by graduates in order to succeed. Law grads need to be problem solvers. But are law schools keeping up? Are they reflecting the realities of the legal profession?

On the CBA National article, legal futurist Jordan Furlong says the answer is . . . [more]

Active adjudication is an approach to dispute resolution that puts more emphasis on the role of the adjudicator in focusing the issues in dispute and the process for resolving those issues. It stands in contrast to the classic adversarial model of dispute resolution that puts more emphasis on the parties shaping the matters in dispute and the evidence required to prove their case. Active adjudication has many advantages for access to justice. I have written about this before. Active adjudication can result in shorter processes as well as levelling the playing field, to some extent, for self-represented parties.

The . . . [more]

Everyone seems to agree that law school new graduates are not practice-ready, but there continues to be disagreement about how ready they should be at that stage of their careers. This discussion has been going on for at least 30 years, and the debate continues to rage. The latest edition of the National sets it all out, highlighting the challenges inherent in changing the law school curriculum, along with some law school innovations that have taken hold. This topic was also the focus of a recent CBA Futures workshop entitled Transforming Legal Education in Canada: a Workshop to Inspire . . . [more]

It is timely that Vanderbilt Law School is hosting what is billed as the first legal conference on the topic: “Watson, Esq.: Will Your Next Lawyer Be a Machine.” The legal system, and the legal profession will need to dramatically lift it’s game if it is to keep up with client expectations as mankind prepares to take another big step. It led me back to an abstract of a Rees Morrison article I did almost 30 years ago:

Artificial intelligence and law: A conference report

The First International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law was held in Boston . . . [more]

A recent article on Above the Law came into inbox titled, “Law Schools Are Not Exposing Students To Real World Business.” Hooray, I thought, recognition, even if from an imperfect source with more than one axe to grind, that the law is both a profession and a business.

I was only slightly disappointed to discover that the last word had been cut off. Business Development. Rainmaking, in other words. (Click here for the actual article.)

Biz Dev is important – pay the bills and all that – though I’m not convinced it needs to be taught in law school. . . . [more]

Complacency is a dangerous force. It blinds us to possible threats and keeps us from pursuing opportunities. It lulls us to sleep…and by the time we wake up, it may be too late.

And let’s face it; it can be easy to become complacent. If your practice is running smoothly, if you’re making enough to pay the bills, and if you know there are clients with cases in your pipeline…it’s easy to let your guard down.

But when that happens, you’re in danger. And let me tell you something…there’s NEVER any good reason to become complacent. There are always opportunities . . . [more]

We had many exciting developments in the foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL) e-resource landscape in recent years. The newest one was the launching of the United Nations iLibrary in February 2016. It’s described as “the first comprehensive global search, discovery, and viewing source for digital content created by the United Nations.” I’m still waiting to explore the iLibrary fully and have some many questions about it. The OECD also has an iLibrary – will the UN one serve the same purpose? How will the UN iLibrary play with the UN’s Official Document System (ODS), the UNBISnet UN catalog, and . . . [more]

“Emond” Rises, while Brand Names “Canada Law Book” and “Carswell” fade to black

Publishing houses rise and fall. Legal publishing houses are no exception. Changes in ownership and/or hidden weaknesses may cause a company that dominates in one decade, to be displaced in the next by another, with a better idea as to how to best meet the needs of consumers. “Canada Law Book” is one such company, and “Carswell” another. Both names will disappear in the near future as these historic brands are replaced by “Thomson Reuters” in the coming year.

Canada Law Book

In the early seventies, Canada . . . [more]

Weeding is a process in which librarians remove books from the library. (Karen Sawatzky wrote previously for SLAW on the subject.) Reasons for weeding include to remove materials from the collection that are no longer useful or that are actively dangerous. Weeding is also a good way of reclaiming shelf space, a particular concern in the era of shrinking library space.

Typical questions that librarians ask themselves when weeding a collection include:

• Is there a newer edition of this title and do we own it?
• Do we own anything more current on the subject?
• Is the information available electronically?

Forty years ago, the confidentiality rule now found in the Federation of Law Societies Model Code was first adopted in the CBA Code of Professional Conduct. The confidentiality rule makes passing reference in the commentary to privilege and makes clear that the confidentiality rule must be distinguished from solicitor-client privilege. The Model Code does not expressly require that lawyers uphold solicitor-client and litigation privilege.

I expect that Canadian lawyers would generally accept that proper professional conduct includes upholding solicitor-client and litigation privilege. After forty years, it is appropriate to question whether the Codes and Rules of Professional Conduct ought . . . [more]

The really interesting and exciting people that one encounters have been everywhere, done everything and remain on the move. Not for them the conservatism of a monochromatic career in a single industry sector or one spent with a small number of employers, as has happily been the case for me to date. Still, it occurs to me that my own cautious path presents an opportunity to offer, for those interested, an entirely subjective, probably biased and personal description of much of the legal and professional information scene in the UK and Ireland and to a minor extent in mainland Europe. . . . [more]