Many of us work in support of Access to Justice. A2J is an important response to injustice. But why do we do it? What compels us to strive to work in this field? What sustains us in this work?

For most of us it is certainly not financial reward (although there is undoubtedly money to be made by inventing and selling new tools and processes). It may be a need to “give back” out of gratitude for our experience as professionals in the justice system. It may feel like a moral or ethical calling. Perhaps it is all of the . . . [more]

As someone intent on reforming copyright law, so that it can begin to serve open access to research as well as it currently serves exclusive subscription access to research, one obvious challenge is research’s international basis at every level. How can one expect copyright changes, which necessarily take place at a national level, to facilitate research’s global circulation?

Before responding to this vital question, allow me to briefly address why change is needed and that change I am recommending. The value of open access to humankind has been forcefully stated by Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of . . . [more]

While British legislation is now cited in the format Northern Ireland Act 1998 (UK), s 5, pre-1963 legislation (which is more likely to be referred to in Canadian courts than the newer legislation) is slightly more complicated. ¹

Older British legislation is cited using a regnal year, e.g. Statute of Frauds, 1677, 29 Car II, c 3. The regnal year consists of the shortened version of the monarch’s name (in this case Car II for Charles II where “Car” is the shortened version of Carolus, the Latin for Charles) preceded by a number or numbers indicating the . . . [more]

You can’t swing a dead cat around practice management and legal tech circles without hitting somebody talking about ChatGPT. And I know a lot of lawyers have developed a bone-deep fatigue of hearing about all things AI over the past few weeks.

I’ll admit, I am really interested in (and a bit worried about) what feels like the beginning of a sharp upward trajectory of AI’s presence in the professional lives of lawyers. Growing up watching sci fi movies in the 80s left me with a healthy concern of what will happen eventually with AI, but I also don’t think . . . [more]

ChatGPT was launched by OpenAI, an American-based AI research and deployment company, in November 2022. The free, easy to access tool quickly captured the public’s attention. Described in the New York Times as “quite simply, the best artificial intelligence chatbot ever released to the general public”, ChatGPT hit 1 million users in 5 days and skyrocketed to 100 million users in January. In response to ChatGPT’s launch, both Microsoft and Google have announced plans to offer new AI-enhanced, chat-based search tools.

It wasn’t long before lawyers started paying attention. A quick Google search yields over 40,000 hits for “ChatGPT” and . . . [more]

In Access to Justice research, there is now a recognition that innovation and reform require input from a variety of stakeholders. This includes not only the justice system’s insiders, but its users as well. This acknowledgment has, in turn, shaped research initiatives aimed at tackling the crisis in Access to Justice. Essentially, to fix the problem, it is important to understand how the problem is experienced by actual users and what would help those experiencing the problem.

For a very long time, this was not the case. And while great strides have been made over the last several years among . . . [more]

What relief is available to a Court when dealing with the breach of a protective order and breach of the implied undertaking rule? The Federal Court had occasion to consider this question in Molo Design Ltd. v. Chanel Canada ULC, 2023 FC 140. In a decision dated January 30, 2023, the Federal Court made an order to enforce a Protective Order issued in the action and to enforce the implied undertaking rule.

The facts were that a co-founder of the plaintiff Molo Design Ltd. disclosed information in documents disclosed by Chanel in the action that were designated “Confidential” under . . . [more]

Between 2018 and 2020, the Province of British Columbia granted multiple mineral claims on Banks Island, in the heart of Gitxaała Nation’s territory, without consulting Gitxaała. Under BC’s current Mineral Tenure Act, virtually anyone can become a “free miner” and acquire mineral rights online for a nominal fee through an automated system – with no requirement for Indigenous consultation or consent, or even notification.

The problematic practice of granting mineral tenures without consent is not new. In fact, it’s very old – with roots that date back to the Gold Rush era in BC, when colonial laws were first . . . [more]

What we see defines us. It behooves us to examine this – a catalogue of sight. Let us begin this exercise with one lawyer’s day.

9 hours, Modern Commercial Architecture

Sturdy wool carpets and large marble tiles. Clean white walls and cubicle panels up to a high ceiling. Black ergonomic plastic and leather chairs. Big glass windows. Recessed lights. Glass and wood veneer table, black keyboard, monitor, and mouse. Assorted pens, a Mont Blanc, and a yellow writing pad. Right-angles and geometric shapes.

5 hours, Words

Black Arial 11 to 15 point font on a white rectangular background, perfectly . . . [more]

In my current and previous positions, I have worked closely with numerous researchers searching for any type of legal information from foreign countries or other domestic jurisdictions. Despite their different requests, one thing is a constant: legal research on a foreign/domestic jurisdiction requires a research strategy. Even if you believe that you are “just” looking for a case, piece of legislation, policy, regulation, historical information, etc., once your legal research includes another domestic jurisdiction, you need to spend some extra time thinking about a series of questions which go beyond the “document” you are interested in. Those questions include, not . . . [more]

The primary objective of the Mobile Rural Law Van has been to expand service in underserved rural areas, first to rural Wellington County in the summer 2019 pilot project and then, in the second three-year phase of the project from 2021 to 2024, to Wellington County and to the adjacent North Halton area as well. The mobile summer Law Van operates between May and the end of October. During the fall and winter when Canadian weather becomes too inclement for an outdoor service the winter “law van” moves to various indoor venues in the same towns where the mobile Law . . . [more]

Sam is frustrated. Having settled her big trial, she faces a pile of small tasks she is behind on. None of it is particularly challenging, but she spends hours a day surfing the net instead of getting caught up.

Chris is deadline driven. Every day runs like a fire drill of running to meet deadlines. They know they should plan to get projects started sooner but are stuck in the habit of relying on the stress of an impending deadline for motivation.

What do Sam and Chris have in common? They are both procrastinators.

Procrastination is avoiding taking action when . . . [more]