Section 8(1) of Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL) prohibits the installation of a computer program on another person’s computer system without express consent. Compliance and Enforcement Decision CRTC 2022-132 dated May 19, 2022, indicates that this analysis is very technical and may in some circumstances require forensic computer evidence to make out a prosecution under this section of CASL.

In 2015, CRTC enforcement staff identified five Canadian Internet Protocol (IP) addresses linked to 1882914 Ontario Inc., operating as Datablocks Inc. and 2348149 Ontario Inc., operating as Sunlight Media Networks Inc. that appeared to be redirecting users to webpages hosting exploit kits. . . . [more]

In my professional experience working as a law librarian in multiple types of institutions, most of the time a question about or related to a situation happening in a foreign country or at the international level comes primarily through one scenario: the researcher read about it in an online media outlet, newspaper, article, blog, tweet, etc. and wants to know more. Understanding, finding relevant sources and making sense of a rapidly (d)evolving and fast moving situation in a foreign country or internationally is an incredibly complicated and labor intensive type of research, no matter how much experience you have in . . . [more]

Every year, tens of thousands of Ontarians go through divorce or separation. Should these people have access to family law services provided by non-lawyers? What if these service-providers were paralegals trained in family law, insured, and regulated by the Law Society of Ontario?

At present, the official answer is no. No one who is not a full lawyer is allowed to engage in any independent family law practice in Ontario. However, multiple expert reports have endorsed paralegal family law practice for Ontario.

The Case for Paralegal Family Law Practice

The case for this reform is straightforward. The majority of separating . . . [more]

I’m not sure if people truly understand the ultimate impact of the Roe vs. Wade reversal by the US Supreme Court – regardless of where you live. Like the potential alienation of 51% of the population who – let’s face it – only became “persons” within the past century and are now already having some of those rights reversed. Or the eventual impact of a sitting US President announcing that the Supreme Court does not speak to the will of the people, and then signing executive orders to allow for work-arounds to new legislation. It questions the very relevance of . . . [more]

In the past decade, various law societies, bar associations, and members of the judiciary have allowed and tacitly endorsed the provision of unbundled legal services. For law schools, members of the profession and judiciary, and professional regulators who recognize the crisis in access to justice, these unbundled services or limited scope retainers (and legal coaching) ought to be a vital addition to the access to justice landscape: they provide people with the kind of supports that are needed to resolve their legal issues.

The case for unbundling

Unbundled legal services provide limited help from a lawyer or paralegal while the . . . [more]

Near the beginning of every academic year, I ask students in my in Legal Research and Writing class (LRW) to complete a short in-class assignment. I provide them with news articles that cover legal issues and ask them to find the decision or legislation that is being discussed. At this point in the year, students have typically only recently been introduced to both open and proprietary legal research platforms. They are inclined to keyword search the same way that they might on Google. This is usually ineffective and gives them varying results across platforms. The point of the activity is . . . [more]

There is a story about a dog leashed to a pole. Seeking freedom from the pole, it pulled against its leash. It bit its leash. It barked at everyone passing by. It yelped and it cried unceasingly. Finally its owner came and unleashed the dog. Did it then pounce away, as quickly as it could, away from the pole? It did not. Rather, it sat in the same place, quietly and contentedly. The lesson here is, supposedly, that we crave freedom as an ideology. We may continue to live the same way we did when we were leashed, but this . . . [more]

Many lawyers dislike the idea of selling. It is not why they got into law and it is not something many are comfortable engaging in. Firms tend to stay away from using the word “sales” by talking about business development and client service.

The main aim of a sale is to generate profit. The difference in sales vs. service is that servicing aims at supporting new and old clients in order to increase client satisfaction. A practice thrives by creating an experience that is not only satisfactory but builds upon multiple client concerns.

For a lawyer, the focus should always . . . [more]

Access to justice and research innovation were important topics at the recent World Justice Forum 2022 and the Annual Summit of Canada’s Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters. In this article, as part of a growing body of access to justice opportunities and initiatives, we discuss some exciting new developments in community-based justice research.

Global Access to Justice Crisis

The global lack of access to justice has reached a critical point. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated legal service barriers and contributed to an increase in most types of justice problems, legal research and . . . [more]

Unstructured Data – A Problem That’s Been Around for a Long Time

Recently, authors Simek and Nelson had the opportunity to talk to guest Peter Baumann on their Legal Talk Network Digital Detectives podcast. Baumann is the CEO and founder of ActiveNav, a leading data privacy and governance software provider.

As far back as 2008, Baumann was observing the exponential growth of data and specifically unstructured data, the data that sits outside of databases. He noted that today, “the best technology, the best doors and locks and alarm systems won’t stop the bad actors getting into your network. I think . . . [more]

Negotiation is the most common form of dispute resolution.

I recently heard that about 50,000 actions are started in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice each year. About 2,000 cases go to trial. The rest are resolved some other way – mainly negotiated settlements.

I don’t know how accurate those numbers are, but that’s an awful lot of negotiation.

The difficulty, in many cases, is that parties (and counsel) don’t really understand what they’re negotiating about. It’s not the merits of the dispute. It’s not even the dollars claimed on each side.

It’s the difference in value between a deal . . . [more]

This March, we reviewed the ruling in the Canada United States Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) challenge of Canada’s Dairy Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs)[1]. The Panel found that Canada’s practice of reserving 85-100% of dairy TRQs for processors violated Article 3.A.2.11(b) of CUSMA. Citing the principle of “judicial economy,”[2] the panel members left it for the two sides to work out a solution without applying the strict guidelines the United States was seeking.

At the time, we queried whether the combination of the lack of a strict roadmap and strong domestic pressures in both countries would lead to further . . . [more]