What does it mean to be a professional? There are no doubt many thoughtful articles written by those of us in the legal sector that address this question, but I’m going to refer you to a movie about a rock band for the answer.

Rush – Beyond the Lighted Stage premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April and was released last week for home consumption. Directed by Sam Dunn and Scot McFayden, it tells a story about the 40-year and counting careers of bassist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart – together, Canadian rock . . . [more]

The following is the text of a Fraud Alert sent by LAWPRO to Ontario lawyers on June 29, 2010. Due to the response we received from our previous alert on June 17 we felt it was important to make lawyers aware of new details we’ve learned about this scam.

Last week’s fraud warning e-blast on the collaborative family law agreement fraud prompted dozens of calls and emails to LAWPRO. At least 30 Ontario lawyers indicated they had been recently targeted or were in the middle of dealing with a matter involving this exact fraud. These calls and emails have helped . . . [more]

The Ottawa Citizen recently ran a series on the capital’s crack cocaine problem.

An article that ran on Saturday, June 19, 2010 as part of the series examined the city’s Drug Treatment Court that works to divert small-time drug offenders away from jail and into addiction treatment programs:

Offenders in Drug Treatment Court are always facing jail for the petty theft that feeds their habit. After a rigorous assessment, they are accepted into the program and begin treatment with Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services. First they are required to plead guilty to any charges they face.

Addicts in the

In an editorial in today’s Star, Roy Romanow and Tony Gagliano describe a new report (pdf) by the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) which suggests that Canadians have even less time than before, despite our efforts to create a society with more leisure time. Romanow is the Chair of the CIW Advisory Board and offers an introduction to the report.

They point to several key factors:

• technology allowing us to carry our work home
• client expectations for service at all hours
• suburban sprawl leading to longer commutes
• globalization and urbanization forces

These trends are likely to affect . . . [more]

Sympathy is not evidence upon which a jury may find in favour of a litigant.

After a two-week trial in a medical malpractice claim, the jury found cause-in-fact [factual causation] was established on the balance of probability. However, the trial judge ruled that there was no evidence whatsoever to support the finding. The judge dismissed the action.

Salter v. Hirst, 2010 ONSC 3440 (Ontario Superior Court) is a reminder to lawyers and litigants of the expensive consequences of not having the necessary evidence and of not asking the necessary questions, even if one has a tragic injury, a sympathetic . . . [more]

Canadian Lawyer magazine has the results of its June survey out.

The findings show that younger associates are making less hourly rates, especially in Western Canada, largely due to the recession. And areas such as real estate and wills are not proving as profitable for smaller firms. . . . [more]

The following is the text of a Fraud Alert sent by LAWPRO to Ontario Lawyers today June 17, 2010. Lawyers in Saskatchewan were the targets of this same fraud in May, and I expect lawyers in other provinces are being targeted as well.

Several lawyers have contacted LAWPRO over the last few weeks to advise us they have been the targets of a spousal support collection scam involving a collaborative family law agreement. One Ontario lawyer was successfully duped by this fraud.

We decided to send a warning to the profession as this fraud appears to be targeting many lawyers . . . [more]

There are some reasons that contain passages that judges should not have to write. For example

Grandmothers of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan and Nipissing First Nation v. Ontario (Natural Resources), 2010 ONCA 439 contains this:

[2] While the notice of appeal raises a wide range of issues,  some of which fall outside the ambit of the jurisdiction of any court, the arguments advanced in the factum and in oral argument are somewhat more focussed and may be summarized as follows …

[3] In our view, application judge did not err in refusing the writ of prohibition on these

Sad news from St John’s, and some truly shocking footage here, of the destruction by fire of Roebothan McKay and Marshall the law firm that was the pre-political home of Premier Danny Williams. The building has now been demolished.

And the hopeful news that their servers were fully backed up on Friday and that the firm will be operating out of temporary premises and reopening soon.

Think that disaster planning is just for big firms? Think that fire – or flood – or earthquake couldn’t happen to you?

Here are resources to start your own plan, or to dust off, . . . [more]

What is the best practice for making a notarial copy of an official document that is in electronic form only?

I am aware of a few US states that have provided for electronic notarization, and work is being done on a Uniform Act on notarial practice in such matters. (The current draft, if I recall correctly, leaves the technology to the state supervisor of the notarial profession.) I am also aware of preliminary developments of electronic apostilles (certificates of authenticity under the Hague Apostille/Legalization Convention), though they are not widespread yet, and the technology will not exist in every . . . [more]

Thanks to Kerri at the CBA for bring this May 2010 Law Society of Saskatchewan fraud alert to my attention.

It provides details (including copies of the correspondence and the collaborative family law agreement) about an attempted spousal support collection fraud that targeted a Saskatchewan lawyer in May. It really jumped out at me because the collaborative family law agreement provided by the fraudster was almost exactly identical to one used for a fraud attempt against an Ontario lawyer in April this year. The fraudster, who claimed to be Karen L Clarke in Saskatchewan, used a different name in Ontario . . . [more]