Of the many challenges facing trial judges, one of the greatest is conducting proceedings with a self-represented accused. Invariably the self-represented accused comes to court with only a rudimentary knowledge of the trial process, often influenced by misleading depictions from television shows and the movies. He or she is unfamiliar with the substantive law, is confused by procedural requirements, and has difficulty grasping concepts such as relevance.

The burgeoning number of self-represented accused in the criminal courts may be explained by cut-backs to legal aid funding across the country, the cost of legal services, mental health problems that make it . . . [more]

At lunch, I attended a round table organized by the National Capital Association of Law Libraries that took place at the University of Ottawa.

One of the more interesting announcements concerned the ongoing digitization of older publications relating to the activities of the Parliament of Canada.

According to the person from Library and Archives Canada who was present, the following material is now digitized:

• Journals of the House of Commons and Senate for 1901-1954
• Committee proceedings and evidence for 1901-1934
• Public Accounts and Estimates for 1867-1993

The material is available on the site of the Internet Archive.

Debates for . . . [more]

So try this: create a link to section 650 of a freely available online version of the Criminal Code. Basic law, basic task in this digital age, right?

Unless I’ve missed something obvious, which is the best sort of thing to miss, it ain’t so easy nowadays. There are two online sources of the Code: CanLII’s and the Department of Justice’s, which are actually just one version because CanLII publishes what the DOJ provides.

But let’s start with the CanLII version. There’s the whole statute with no table of contents. And that’s it. A search within for “650,” . . . [more]

At issue in the GasTOPS trial was the development and sale of a software program for the computerized maintain of jet engines and aircraft. The benefits of a Computerized Maintenance Management System are that it reduces maintenance mistakes while at the same time reducing labour costs.

When I fly on an airplane or ride on a train I am encouraged to buy my ticket online. I recently was at my family doctors office and instead of a thick file of handwritten notes covering 35 years of attendances, test results and prescriptions, she brought up my file on a monitor in . . . [more]

♫ And gazing down from yonder,
On a world of blue and green,
He’ll say with eyes of wonder,
I have seen, i have seen,
My eyes have seen…♫

Lyrics, music and recorded by Chris de Burgh.

A lawyer friend of mine told me about his recent use of his new Sony Reader in Court. No, this wasn’t to read books while waiting to speak in Chambers! He is using it in direct and cross-examination in court and I thought it would be of interest to the readers on Slaw. So with no further ado, here it is in . . . [more]

Kendra Ryan, Knowledge Management Coordinator at Stikeman Elliot in Calgary was kind enough to share a tip with me. Kendra and I connected through the CBA Research Lawyers South section meeting where I shared some tips on using social media sites for legal research. Slides, Handout.

www.socialmention.com

This website searches social media tools across the world for whatever topic you’d like. It’s used commonly by people performing CI reports. It’s a neat way to bring back social media hits that may be overlooked on a larger search engine like Google. This site even tries to break down

Everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame, and this week there was plenty of recognition to go around — both in the biotech community and in the legal community.

The FDA, famous for restrictive rules on communications, is having a hard time adjusting to current internet trends, leading to some controversial decisions about Google search ads. Trying to do better, FDA held a two-day hearing about the use of the internet and social media for online drug marketing so it can calibrate its decisions for a new era. Rule-making will follow at the old era pace, though.

Simon Fodden . . . [more]

The prospect of Tesco or the Co-op owning a law firm or offering legal services had leader writers in the English legal press in a tizzy, but the Legal Services Board today produced a complex consultation document on Alternative Business Structures which sets out eligibility tests for significant equity investments in firms providing legal services. . . . [more]

Doubtless there have been other stories like this, but multiple headlines on the same day start me wondering whether after the North American economic earthquake settles, we won’t have very different local and community outreach for legal services and legal information: . . . [more]

Last week Leslie Ellen Harris correctly pointed out in her Slaw post Using Flickr Photos that we should not assume content available on the web is freely available without copyright. She gave photos on Flickr as the example.

One thing I love about Flickr, however, is that it allows those of us who upload photos to designate Creative Commons licensing as an alternative. When I am looking for images for blog posts or presentations, I will often use the advanced search on Flickr to look for images available under Creative Commons (especially for commercial use)–scroll down on the advanced search . . . [more]

Notwithstanding the fine weather that many parts of the country are experiencing as November moves towards December, late November in Canada is usually a dark time for those of us with the golf bug. Into that dark, a little bit of legal light shines with the knowledge that a Happy Gilmore shot has been judicially defined.

In 2008 NSSC 280 para. 7, the Happy Gilmore shot has been defined as, “…running from five to ten feet behind the ball and hitting it on the run.” In finding that the Happy Gilmore shot breached the standard of care owed to other . . . [more]

The Globe and Mail had an interview with author Cory Doctorow in the weekend edition. After talking to an audience in Toronto on the topic of “How to destroy the book”, he sat down to talk about the future of publishing.

There’s one great line in the interview that will strike a chord with most lawyers: “I don’t think people write 26,000-word licence agreements in order to give you more rights,” [Doctorow] said. “They only do it to take away your rights.”

And for our recent Kindle purchasers, he has some words of warning as well:

“They gave everybody back