Though not as world-famous as the Nobel Prizes, the Ludvig Holberg Prize is now in its fourth year. ((The Ludvig Holberg Memorial fund was established in 2003 by the Norwegian Parliament. The Board of the Fund annually awards the Holberg International Memorial Prize for outstanding scholarly work in the fields of the arts and humanitites, social sciences, law and theology. The prize for 2007 is NOK 4.5 million (approx. € 555,000/$750,000).)) The earliest prizes went to 2004: Julia Kristeva 2005: Jürgen Habermas and 2006: Shmuel Eisenstadt.

This year’s winner is the first legal scholar to be so honoured. No surprise . . . [more]

William Kuebler is featured as the Times Online’s Lawyer of the Week. The U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander says of the situation facing his client, Canadian Omar Khadr, the first child ever to be prosecuted for war crimes:

[It is] a system where the deck is stacked heavily against him. The rules can change from day to day and, under the view of the Government of the United States, even if acquitted, our client could be detained indefinitely as an enemy combatant. We have to avoid enabling an illegitimate process and to keep our sights focused on creating the circumstances

UK law librarians are now following our lead, encouraging the UK legal publishers to produce a new titles RSS feed.

Publishing consultant Nick Holmes has been calling for this service for some time, and recently put the pressure on publishers by scraping their websites to create sample feeds, posting them on the infolaw site. He also wrote an open letter to UK legal publishers on November 2nd asking for RSS feeds.

Blogger lo-fi librarian reports that a Facebook group has also been set up to help build concensus amongst law librarians in their request for RSS feeds from . . . [more]

We were discussing the role of the research lawyer in law firms the other day. In his post, Ted mentioned the oft-cited example of Bertha Wilson, the former research lawyer who, as we all know, went on to be a highly respected Court of Appeal and Supreme Court Justice. Today the federal Minister of Justice appointed Jo’Anne Strekaf to the Alberta Bench. Jo’Anne Justice Strekaf is (or was?) a leading competition lawyer, but also a longtime member of Bennett Jones’s research practice group. I am enjoying my perception that there is some significance in the announcement‘s express mention of . . . [more]

Perhaps encryption isn’t so easy after all, and some people could use a little primer. This is how I protect my laptop….

Wired – “How Does Bruce Schneier Protect His Laptop Data? With His Fists — and PGP“

After a discussion among academics about the perils of crossing the U.S. border with your laptop full of research data, I began to wonder how diligent law firms are in ensuring that nothing leaves the office on a laptop that is unsecured. The shocking incident in which Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs lost a couple of disks containing private . . . [more]

The Bar Council of India and the state bar councils have together urged the central government not to alter laws to permit the entry of foreign law firms into the practice of law in India. News.IndLaw.com has the story. In this they’re backed up by the British Indian Lawyers Association, which represents Indian lawyers practising in the United Kingdom and which argues that such a change should be reciprocal, happening only when the U.K. allows Indian firms in. The Economic Times has that aspect of the story. The Times adds it’s voice to the controversy in “India — the . . . [more]

The announcement of the death of Chief Justice Antonio Lamer is a significant passage. I can’t think of a single Supreme Court Justice who has had a more profound influence on the criminal law ((Arguably G. Arthur Martin, JA of the Ontario Court of Appeal may have had a more sustained impact on the day to day conduct of the criminal trial)).

Here are the tributes from the Prime Minister ((I can’t find a tribute from the current Chief Justice)), the Minister of Justice, the Globe, the Star, the CBC, the National Post.

Although Lamer . . . [more]

The Civil Justice Reform Project in Ontario, chaired by Coulter Osborne issued a Summary of Findings and Recommendations today. The Report is posted on the Attorney General’s website, available in both French and English. This Summary is a seminal report which will be studied closely across the country. Mr. Osborne is expected to deliver his full report later this year. . . . [more]

David Maister is one of the top business experts, specializing in professional service firms (including law firms). He is known for his bestselling books including Managing the Professional Service Firm, his blog and his podcasts.

So, it was exciting when he showed up last month at PodCamp Boston to talk about his career and answer questions from the group of podcasters and other new media types who crammed into a small room to see him.

Mitch Joel, President of Montreal-based marketing firm Twist Image, took the opportunity to interview David Maister. He shared that interview in . . . [more]

The blog Rands in Repose just published a Nerd Handbook, ostensibly aimed at helping someone attached to a nerd understand that nerd. Here the nerd is understood in terms of involvement with a computer.

You could, of course, understand the handbook as applying to lawyers or legal librarians, it seems to me. The fit isn’t perfect (observation 5 doesn’t carry over for lawyers in my experience), but it’s enough to give one pause.

Herewith the topic heads from the handbook, with substitutions suggested where appropriate, and a few quotes under the first heading to give you the flavour:

1. Understand

The Law Society is calling for lawyers to participate in a demonstration at Downing Street about developments in Pakistan.

Supporting lawyers in Pakistan

Thursday 08 November 2007

The Law Society, the Bar Council, and the Association of Muslim Lawyers have raised strong concerns about the treatment of lawyers in Pakistan following their demonstrations in support of the rule of law. Andrew Holroyd, Law Society president said:

‘Events in Pakistan must be of concern to everyone who supports the rule of law, and they underline once again that the rule of law is nothing without lawyers. I can think of no . . . [more]

Just learned that Israel is the latest destination for legal services outsourcing.

Green Point’s Legal Services Division has engaged with one of the world’s largest legal publishers to provide a full range of editing and editorial services, as well as original content creation services. This client joins the growing roster of prestigious legal information providers who have discovered the benefits of Green Point’s dual shore model – legal resources in India, working under the supervision of bar-admitted US attorneys working in Israel. Green Point’s value added legal services, which make US legal talent in Israel available to US law firms