I recently retold a story about a colleague of mine, who back in the very early 2000s asked me to investigate whether there was a satellite image of a particular point of interest to our file. It was certainly the coolest research I had done at that point – finding a source of satellite images to prove or disprove the location of an object…new and very interesting stuff at that time. Given the period in time when this task occurred, the point in my recent story telling was how lawyers that I work with are creative in their use of . . . [more]

Today’s New York Times has started a new feature, taking the more outrageous elements of the US litigation system and dramatizing them.

This is quite wonderful – stick until the end.

They take verbatim (word for word) legal transcripts into dramatic, and often comedic, performances. Here you will find re-creations of actual events from the halls of law and government. You, our readers, can help us find material for future episodes. Have you come across court trials, depositions or government hearings that you think are surprising, bizarre or baffling — and lend themselves to performance?

Hat tip to Stan Freedman . . . [more]

Researching conflicts for law firms has been a function that has been around for many years now and lives in different departments depending on the law firm. But I only recently heard of Conflicts Information Specialist as being a full-time position. I am therefore thankful that Amanda Brooks has kindly shared her experiences as a Conflicts Information Specialist in a Canadian law firm over on the INALJ (“I need a library job”) website in the blog post A Day in the Life of a Conflicts Information Specialist.

Brooks discusses the role of the Conflicts Information Specialist:

The purpose of

Today marks the unofficial end of the school year around here with the last exam being written this morning. It has now been several years since we have adopted exam writing via computer and it is a now the standard. With that standard there are a few changes from the traditional scribbled examinations. Firstly, faculty members far prefer marking word processed exams as they no longer have to obtain special qualifications in hieroglyphics in order to mark exams. That alone is enough of a plus in the eyes of most and it is not really necessary to extoll the virtues . . . [more]

April launched an exciting development for BC legal researchers and for the open law and open data movements. QP LegalEze, the BC Queen’s Printer’s deep and highly functional subscription service for current and some historical legislative information, is no more. Or, more accurately, it is by subscription no more.

All of its content and functionality now is available through BC Laws, the free site also offered by the Queen’s Printer:

BC Laws has been upgraded to provide enhanced searching and more content including historical legislation and related publications such as BC Gazette, full text Orders-in-Council, and Tables of Legislative

A number of Australian library associations including the Australian Law Library Association released a study earlier this month that highlights the big 5-to-1 bang for the buck from resources invested in government, law firm and organizational libraries.

In fact, every one dollar investment in special libraries such as law firm libraries brings 5.43 dollars in return to their organization, according to the study commissioned by the associations.

From the press release:

“ALIA [Australian Library and Information Association] Executive Director Sue McKerracher said, ‘Working in the library and information sector, we all recognise the value of special libraries. What

If I were a character in a novel I would work at a think tank in a log structure in the mountains and would wear glasses that connect to the internet and flash a virtual keyboard in front of me with a voice command. And I would have a satellite phone with a secure line. And I would be really cute and tall.

Think tanks are not just plot elements in novels or adventure fantasy. They are potential research sources.

I received an email today from the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. The email shared an interesting report titled . . . [more]

The current issue of the Canadian Journal of Law and Society (volume 29, issue 1) is free until the end of May 2014 according to a tweet at the beginning of April from Cambridge Journals:

New issue of the Canadian Journal of #Law and Society is now free for 2 months: http://t.co/wlce03EhNI #slsa14 @Legal_Editions @slsa_uk

— Cambridge Journals (@CambridgeJnls) April 2, 2014

From the website:

 [CJLS] is a bilingual periodical publishing cutting edge research in the broad field of law and society scholarship. Rooted in the innovative Canadian Law and Society movement, CJLS features international scholarship concerning the intersection of

Every year, the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) hands out the Hugh Lawford Award for Excellence in Legal Publishing.

It honours a publisher (whether for-profit or not-for profit, corporate or non-corporate) that has demonstrated excellence by publishing a work, series, website or e-product that makes a significant contribution to legal research and scholarship.

The nominees for this year are:

• The Queen’s Bench Rules of Saskatchewan: Annotated, 4^th ed. (Law Society of Saskatchewan Libraries)
• Juris Classeur Québec (LexisNexis Canada)
• Copyright Law, Fourth Edition (John Wiley and Sons, Inc.)
• GALLOP: Government and Legislative Libraries Online Publications Portal (Association

The Government of Quebec has announced that effective April 2014, the proper citation format for Quebec laws and regulations derived from the consolidated collection will be RLRQ. The previous abbreviation was LRQ (statutes) and RRQ (regulations).

The new policy can be viewed by clicking on this link.

See: la Gazette officielle du Québec, partie 2, (2 avril 2014, no 14, pg 1303): Politique sur le recueil des lois et des règlements du Québec.

This revised Policy replaces the Politique sur le Recueil des lois et des règlements du Québec, published on January 3rd, 2013.

SOQUIJ users will . . . [more]

The call for papers for Law Via the Internet (LVI) went out recently. The conference is to be held September 29-October 1, 2014 in Nairobi, Kenya. The theme – The impact of open access to legal information : bridging the gap between accessibility and usefulness – presents attendees with huge scope for discussion, and as a parliamentary librarian, I’m interested to see how many of the suggested themes go beyond the courts and into areas of citizen participation in law-making. The idea that there is a gap between accessibility and useful is also a compelling idea, and I look forward . . . [more]

The newest offering from CanLII, CanLII Connects launched on Friday. The site is meant as a place to gather case commentary on Canadian court decisions. From the site:

CanLII Connects was created to make it faster and easier for legal professionals and the public to access high-quality legal commentary on Canadian court decisions.

We bring together lawyers, scholars and others with professional competency in legal analysis to share their insights and form collective opinions.*

The site is being launched with 27,000 pieces of content and is expected to grow significantly. To submit content, add comments, or vote up commentary . . . [more]