Readers of Slaw may have come across the small volumes that have been published annually for over sixty years – the Hamlyn Lectures. They resulted from an application for directions before Mr. Justice Wynn-Parry of a Trust resulting from the Last Will and Testament of Miss Emma Hamlyn. They’re delightfully accessible general talks on various aspects of English and comparative law.

And the older volumes of the series are now available from the University of Exeter Law School website. CUP is publishing the current volumes.

Miss Hamlyn bequeathed the residue of her estate to her executors as . . . [more]

[Warning: The following missive contains attempts at humour. Reader discretion is advised.]

In the early part of the last century, one could find judges railing about “scholastic theories” of this and that. What this and that was doesn’t matter. “Scholastic” was not used as a compliment. In the mid part and last part of the century, the denigration of choice became “abstract metaphysical theories”.

The SCC has now introduced a new species of metaphysics applicable to, at least, insurance policy interpretation, and eventually , we should assume, contract interpretation generally …. DRUM ROLL PLEASE:

“law office metaphysics”.

 See Co‑operators . . . [more]

Simon Fodden recently quipped that Apple was becoming so mainstream that he might have to switch to Linux to keep his “smug sense of computer specialness.” This reminded me that, a little more than a year ago, I posted a little note here indicating that I was thinking about getting a Linux netbook and an internet stick. I eventually did just that, and thought I would offer some reflections on my experience so far.

The bad news is that most people using Linux (at least those without IT support) are going to feel “special” at least some of the time, . . . [more]

In case you overlooked it in our selected #slawca retweets from last week, the ABA Techshow 2010 schedule has been released. ABA Techshow will be taking place March 25-27, 2010 in Chicago. View the quick web version of the schedule (session titles only, speakers aren’t listed here) or download the PDF schedule and registration info. Keynote is Ari Kaplan: “The New Big Bang – The Convergence of Technology and Marketing”. Faculty from our Slaw community and the larger Canadian legal industry include:

• Joel Alleyne
• David Bilinsky
• Jean-François DeRico
• Peg Duncan
• Dominic Jaar
• Nils Jensen
• Steven Matthews
• Donna S.M.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has just released a report on Academic Law Library Statistics 2007-2008.

Among the highlights (all dollars are in US currency):

• Out of 113 ARL university libraries, 74 responded to this survey
• Law libraries reported median values of 345,935 volumes held and 8,033 gross volumes added. Also, these libraries employed the full-time equivalent of 2,129 staff members in the fiscal year 2007–2008
• Responding libraries reported total expenditures of $215,630,657 … materials expenditures made up the largest portion of the total, with 47% of aggregated expenses falling under a materials-related category
• Law libraries reported a

Everybody here over 45, with an OHLS LLB, or who has been out more that 10 years, or has a settled position doing something acceptably remunerative, regardless of how long it’s been since you stopped regurgitating (sorry, graduated), put up your right hand if you can think of one valid reason to bother paying OHLS anything to issue you a piece of paper that has York U on it in bigger letters – oops, sorry, that says you can call yourself a Junior Dick(head) – other than it’s somehow more prestigious because it uses the same questionable Latin that would . . . [more]

Some substantive law both because of what happened and because it may give some people cause to think about the consequences of our past action on our environment.

If the decision stands – I expect the plaintiffs will try to get leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada given the amount involved: more than $1.7 million plus interest plus legal fees – it’s proof that the courts aren’t the answer to all problems.

I’ve set out all that’s needed to understand what the problem was, and the end result.

Berendsen v. Ontario, 2009 ONCA 845

http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/decisions/2009/december/2009ONCA0845.htm

[1] In . . . [more]

Three unrelated thoughts on law and honour. . . . [more]

Lawyers will always be free to decide how they chose to practice law; the market will, however, decide who the winners and the losers are. Winning in e-discovery increasingly means adopting lean, efficient business practices. These practices include (but are not limited to) using project management and appropriate measures of quality to reduce cost and to mitigate risk.

This powerful statement is from the Sedona Conference’s Commentary on Achieving Quality in the E-Discovery Process. The drafters of the Commentary argue for the application of formal project management methodologies by lawyers. This is a short endorsement of this argument, with . . . [more]

It’s a law student’s dream – or maybe a nightmare. Law firm recruiters scouring social media networks to find an appropriate candidate for their firm.

The current recruitment process does little to reveal the personality, collegiality, drive and habits of applicants. It does nothing to demonstrate their business connections, an important quality for “finders,” or political involvement, for firms that engage in lobbying and government relations.

The majority of law students do spend hours on social media platforms, usually behind walled gardens that they think are impermeable, so why wouldn’t law firms go where they are? We’ve already . . . [more]

As Connie pointed out this is a week for legal technology focused discussions – both Ted Tjaden and I spoke at one of the Toronto conferences this week, though attendance was light in comparison to the record crowds at the Pacific Legal Technology conference, LegalIT and the Legal Futures conference of the College of Law Practice Management.

ALM are sponsoring Virtual LegalTech, a virtual trade show covering legal technology, which will take place Thursday. It features live webcasts and seminars, virtual trade booths, online networking, chatting, blogs, and more. “It’s everything you’d expect from a live conference, brought right . . . [more]