When a colleague told me a few weeks ago that it is legal in 29 states for someone to be fired solely because they are gay, I almost didn’t believe him. Although I know of the still prevalent discrimination faced by LGBT individuals in the United States, I was surprised (to say the least) that majority lawmakers in many states still openly oppose employment protections for gay, bisexual and transgender persons.

As most of you know, in Canada, discrimination in the private realm is prohibited in all provinces by the Human Rights Acts and by the Quebec Charter of Human . . . [more]

Once upon a time, Humpty Dumpty reminded Alice, in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass:

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone. “It means just what I choose it to mean – neither more or less.”
“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s all.”

Readers of this blog, and others who follow Canadian politics and law, will know that there is some controversy surrounding the appointment, by the Prime Minister of Canada, . . . [more]

Instead of calling a fall election, the Parti Québécois government has decided, among other things, to devote resources to fighting the federal government over a court challenge to An Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Quebec people and the Quebec State (commonly called Bill 99), the provincial law that outlines Quebec's rules for secession from Canada.

I preface this comment by saying that I know nothing about the evidence in the Law Society of Upper Canada’s prosecution of Torys LLP lawyers Darren Sukonick and Elizabeth DeMerchant, other than what is disclosed in the reasons for judgment of the Hearing Panel dated October 17, 2013 [Ed. note: http://canlii.ca/t/g10k2 & http://canlii.ca/t/g10k5]. I have not seen the documents relied on by the Law Society, nor did I attend any part of the hearing.

As has been widely reported, the Hearing Panel dismissed all six of the charges against Mr. Sukonick and Ms. DeMerchant for conflict of interest stemming . . . [more]

I recently heard a respected lawyer comment that if the legal profession allows disputes to be resolved outside of traditional legal systems, then we cannot ensure that proper attention will be paid to basic legal principles of fairness, justice and the rule of law.

That got me wondering, do lawyers have a monopoly not only on legal practice, but also on fairness, justice and rule of law? Are we the sole keepers of these ideals, delivered to us by governments who wisely recognized that only those called to the profession of law could meet the responsibility of ensuring adherence? (And . . . [more]

On October 17, 2013, Quebec’s Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse released an opinion on the government's policy paper, Orientations gouvernementales en matière d'encadrement des demandes d'accommodement religieux, d'affirmation des valeurs de la société québécoise ainsi que du caractère laïque des institutions de l'État (Charter of Quebec Values) previously discussed on Slaw.

 1. The solution for making legal services again available at reasonable cost is to enable CanLII[1] to be the necessary national support service. This requires CanLII be able to provide the support services that are provided by the LAO LAW division of Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) to Ontario lawyers in private practice who do legal aid cases. LAO LAW is a centralized legal research service.[2] As its first Director of Research, beginning in July 1979, I developed its technology of centralized legal research, which involves specialization as an on-going process in regard to: (1) its research lawyers; (2) . . . [more]

Discussions about access to justice typically focus attention on access through the traditional routes of courts, lawyers, law schools and pro bono or legal aid service providers. In this context, solutions tend to emphasize more effective use of online technologies or simplification of processes to bridge the gap between those who need legal services and the services they require.

But, as Julie Matthews made clear in her recent article, Educating the Early Assistance Providers, in some cases, community-based intermediaries can function effectively to provide assistance that can reduce or eliminate escalation of a legal problem to the point where . . . [more]

with the Ontario Court of Appeal playing the role of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland.

See R. v. Metron Construction Corporation, 2013 ONCA 541.

A fine which bankrupts a corporation is the equivalent of a beheading.

I’m not slighting the tragedy that resulted in charges but, given what happened in Metron and why — all you need to do is read paras. 1 – 15, particularly paras. 9-15 — do you agree with the general deterrence rationale? It seems questionable, at best, to me. General deterrence of whom? (Consider the aphorism about “stupidity” in “Forest Gump”.) . . . [more]

Industry standards are wonderful things. They help keep us safe in myriad contexts; they promote economic efficiency; they form a kind of “democratized” and rational element to a lot of legislation, typically by being incorporated by reference.

And they’re really rather expensive to consult.

So, according to an article in Next City, Carl Malamud is buying copies of safety standards across the US, scanning them, and putting them online for anyone to consult for free. The folks who develop these standards object. They’ve launched a lawsuit claiming that Malamud is infringing on their copyrights. In order to defend the . . . [more]

Not a clamp on her nose.

Or, you can’t always get what you want, especially if the judge doesn’t agree that’s what you need.

Kidd v. Canada Life Assurance Co., 115 O.R. (3d) 256, 2013 ONSC 1868 per Perell J is instructive reading.

It is a class action in which a motion for approval of an amended settlement to replace the original settlement was rejected because the court held that the amended settlement was unfair, even if better than the original. The original settlement had become unfair to a significant portion of the class because unanticipated events that occurred . . . [more]

Almost exactly four years ago, the European Parliament passed Regulation (EC) No 1007/2009 restricting the marketing of products made from seals to:

only where the seal products result from hunts traditionally conducted by Inuit and other indigenous communities and contribute to their subsistence.

and incidentally:

the placing on the market of seal products shall also be allowed where the seal products result from by-products of hunting that is regulated by national law and conducted for the sole purpose of the sustainable management of marine resources. Such placing on the market shall be allowed only on a non-profit basis. The nature

. . . [more]