On the News Release site on the Supreme Court of Canada’s site, http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/news_release/2008/08-03-20.3/08-03-20.3.html, i.e., for 20 March, 2008, there is a note that the application for leave to appeal in III Canada Acquisition Company, et al. v. Ernst & Young Inc. was dismissed. (I saw the case mentioned in Eugene Meehan’s weekly letter of that date and wanted to track it down.) The case is stated to be on appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal.

It is, in fact, impossible to find the reasons for judgment of the Court of Appeal, using this style of cause, on . . . [more]

From the Wall Street Journal, here’s a cautionary tale about relying too heavily on new technology to give you the right answer. Apparently GPS devices have been steering drivers wrong all around the US. The article tells the story of a man who, following the directions of the disembodied voice, found himself staring out over a 200-foot cliff in New Mexico.

One of the problems is that the software in the devices has difficulty distinguishing between a highway and a dirt track – only one of which is appropriate to take your car down of course.

I may be stretching . . . [more]

Did you miss the deadline? The Privacy Commission of Canada posted a contest to their blog last week, looking for slogans and designs for T-shirts they are planning to hand out at conferences. Unfortunately they did not give a lot of lead time; deadline was March 25th. I think the concept is a great one and would have liked to try my hand at a slogan or two. I’m sure fellow Slawyers would have come up with something witty. I’ll keep an eye on it, whether they extend the deadline.

Link courtesy of Vancouver web marketing guru Kate Trgovac . . . [more]

This is Good Friday for Christians, those at least who use the Gregorian calendar. And this post is about using that calendar and a formula in order to calculate when Good Friday and Easter should be celebrated each year. To make it more than simply topical, let me point out that this calculation has been known since the middle ages as “computus,” which seems right for those of use who use “computers.”

…And for those of us who are drawn to (I do not say “revel in”) complexity. Because at the heart of “computus” you’ll find “epact . . . [more]

A sobering quiz at the BBC Magazine, as Parliament starts to trim back obsolete laws.

Parliament has begun moves to repeal all or part of 328 Acts which experts say are completely redundant.

Let’s see whether Slaw readers do know the law. I only got 4 right out of 10. Humiliating. . . . [more]

From the land of “Herr Doktor Doktor” via Language Log:

…Ian Thomas Baldwin, who holds a PhD from Cornell, and now serves as researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena… [had] been accused of “title abuse” by the German police under a little-known Nazi-era law that specifies that only people who hold PhDs or medical degrees from German universities are permitted to be called “Dr.” [But] persons with a PhD from an accredited US institution can now use Dr. in Germany without jeopardy. As I understand this, however, PhDs from Japan, Canada, and other

Here is a link to a summary of the attendee survey results from the ALM Legal Tech Conference in January.

Odd that it took this long to compile – at ABA Techshow in 1988, we were doing automated audience surveys, using unbelievably primitive tools, but real-time.

Here is the answer list to one question:

What topics do you see as hot technology issues in 2008?

Electronic Discovery 69%
Online Collaboration 32%
Knowledge Management 36%
Document Management 53%
Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity 29%
Data Security 48%
Other 13% . . . [more]

A tip of the SLAW hat to SLAW’s own Steve Matthews for his article called “Who Do You Think You Are?” in this month’s edition of the CBA National magazine. Among other things, Steve writes on protecting your online brand and developing an online network. Nice work Steve. . . . [more]

We have friends whose marriages have been arranged and who find themselves far from India in new relationships. A new website provides legal information for women in that situation.

A venture of the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Extension, the Legal Resource Centre, the Alberta Law Foundation, and the Changing Together organization the website was launched last month to help educate foreign brides and immigrant women about marital relationships and the law in Canada. . . . [more]

The Oxford Handbook of Business History, edited by Geoffrey Jones and Jonathan Zeitlin (ISBN13: 9780199263684; 736 pages; U.S.$150) “provides a state-of-the-art survey of research in business history.” A Q&A with one of the authors explains further:

Sean Silverthorne: What is the purpose of the book, and who is the intended audience?

Geoff Jones: The purpose of this book is to provide a state-of-the-art overview of business history research worldwide. It seeks to speak to researchers in management, economics, sociology, and history who want to know about the latest research in business history, as well as to a wider audience

I just came back from a meeting on the new client floor of McCarthy Tétrault’s Toronto office ((Unhappily I can’t show you the art or the layout, which McCarthys haven’t included on their website)), where there’s an interesting construction by Colette Whiten entitled “Is Technology Rewriting the Justice System?” . . . [more]

At TechShow last week, a roll-out for what I believe to be a first – a book devoted to advanced technologies for lawyers to collaborate.

The Lawyer’s Guide to Collaboration Tools and Technologies: Smart Ways to Work Together, by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell empowers lawyers who are just beginning to try these tools, as well as providing tips and techniques for lawyers with intermediate and advanced collaboration experience. . . . [more]