There’s an interesting article today on Law.com about what impact the recession is having on the situation of law librarians in the United States. “Law Librarians: ‘No More Sacred Cows’” by Alan Cohen is based on the 2009 American Lawyer survey of law librarians. To see the actual findings of the full survey you’ll have to be a subscriber, but Cohen hits the high spots for you.

Library budgets have shrunk in 46% of cases, compared to 9% in 2008 / The expectation from the firms is that every resource must show a decent ROI. / New software

The free legal information portal CanLII (Canadian Legal Information Institute) announced today that it has added point-in-time legislation databases for Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island.

“Users of these provinces’ consolidated Acts and regulations now have access to versions as they came into force since 2004 or so, as well as to current versions updated weekly from governments’ websites.”

CanLII now offers point-in-time legislation databases for the federal and all provincial governments and plans to add similar collections for the legislation of Canada’s three Northern territories soon.

The databases make it possible to search a legislative text as . . . [more]

Hallelujah! Can it be true? I have been arguing for years that all of these standard form contracts that are being forced upon us in the 21st century – are about as far from being “offer + acceptance + consideration” as one can get! First, they force the whole contract on you – then there’s a provision in it that they can change the terms at any time without notice to you! Well apparently the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association has come up with a new Code of Conduct which encourages its members to provide contract language which allows users to . . . [more]

This is a reminder that we should be brief in making our point.

We know this, but often can’t resist saying more than we should. Our tendency to ramble is partly a function of ego. We’re smart, we know things and we want others to know we know things whether helpful or not. It’s also a function of fear. When we don’t trust our argument we layer on lesser alternatives that can harm more than help. Finally, it can be because we’re lazy or time pressed. Long and rambling is easy while focused is hard.

The “case for short” is . . . [more]

I hate being reminded of the fallibility of technology. I love the confidence I feel from noting up a case using an electronic database; I hate it when I find that (contrary to the results of my electronic search) the case has in fact been overturned on appeal. I recently experienced a similar feeling when using the federal government’s laws website. 

Perhaps I’m spoiled by the ability in electronic database programs like QuickLaw and WestLaw to step from “hit” to “hit” in my search results. Or maybe I’m just lazy. When I am looking for something on a webpage . . . [more]

I just noticed an awesome improvement to CanLII’s RSS feeds for decisions! In my reader, CanLII’s feed now shows keywords for decisions from courts that I monitor.

Way to go CanLII for another great innovation. . . . [more]

Last month I wrote about Fired Without Cause, an online legal service for consumers created by Vancouver startup Paradigm Shift Solutions Inc., formed by Chilwin Cheng, LLB and Jim Hamlin, a software development expert. Since I’m curious to know how innovative companies get started in the Canadian legal industry, I arranged for a telephone interview with Chilwin Cheng through his PR company Fleishman-Hillard.

Connie: I want to start at the beginning. Where did you do your law degree? . . . [more]

Sept. 4 is the deadline for submissions to the United States District Court – Southern District of New York regarding “Google Book Search,” as the proposed settlement has come to be known.

In a court order of April 28 (via Wired), the judge agreed that it was prudent to allow additional time for stakeholders to assess the agreement. Pamela Samuelson was the lead author requesting the extension, and has written a wonderfully lucid account, not only of the shortcomings of the agreement, but also succinctly identifying the motivations of the parties in fashioning it.

Her short article appears in . . . [more]

Catherine Best has revised and re-launched her website Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research as of yesterday morning.

I think most Slaw readers have come across this site at some point in their web travels. As I mentioned on the VLLB yesterday, the domain was first registered in September 1998, and Catherine was one of the first lawyers to self-publish her own site in Canada. That the topic was Canadian legal research, makes it more appropriate to wish her a happy re-launch from everyone here at Slaw! . . . [more]

[Editor update, Feb. 28, 2014: BASESwiki has migrated to ACCESS Facility: www.accessfacility.org]

The United Nations has launched a new alternative dispute resolution wiki on business and human rights called BASESwiki, the Business and Society Exploring Solutions wiki:

“It is a forum where anyone can share, access and discuss information about the non-judicial mechanisms and resources available around the world to help companies and their external stakeholders resolve disputes. It will be a resource for all stakeholders – companies, NGOs, mediators, lawyers, academics and government officials. It will be an interactive forum, built over time by and for its

There are few things more secret within lawfirms than the process of determining equity partnership admission and partner compensation. Even if there are disputes they’re handled behind closed doors or in the leak-proof process of arbitration. There are only a handful of reported cases on such issues involving the largest firms.

Which makes the travails of McCarthy Tétrault particularly newsworthy – although the reactions of many managing partners may well be to thank the relevant deity that it wasn’t their firm.

A former McCarthy Tétrault lawyer is suing the firm for $12 million dollars over an equity partnership admission dispute. . . . [more]

Class action settlements — perhaps a bit arcane for a blog post, but a gripper if you are defending a class action.

Class action proceedings can be lengthy. The certification process easily adds an extra two years to the proceeding. Not surprisingly, defendants peripheral to the plaintiff’s case often look for an early exit.

In conventional actions, plaintiffs often throw a wide net hoping to find one or more defendants at fault.

Class proceedings have called for different strategies. Plaintiff have the onus of constructing a case with common issues of liability or damages. The common issues must advance the . . . [more]