Much of the legal status of electronic communications in Canada (and elsewhere) rests on legislation based on the United Nations Model Law on Electronic Commerce of 1996. The Model Law’s main Canadian implementation has been through the Uniform Electronic Commerce Act, adopted in 1999. All the common law provinces, Yukon and Nunavut have enacted the Uniform Act, as shown here. Quebec adopted its Act to establish a legal framework for information technology in 2001, mainly based on the principles of the Model Law though not using the Uniform Act as its template. The electronic documents part of the . . . [more]

There are two ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) pilot projects currently in BC. One is aimed at family law cases and the other is aimed at low-value civil claims. Both involve using online dispute resolution technologies to demonstrate how ODR can be used to bridge distances and solve disputes between parties.

A a partner at my firm said someing that surprised me today:
“That is a lot of change.”.
Putting things in perspective, this partner, like many at my firm, is very capable with technology.

We have some major IT projects happening this year at my firm. Hardware, software, training. These along with regular additions of new lateral hires, minor renovations to add more places for people to work, new students, new legislation, new governments, and as Yul Brynner would say, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

How much change is TOO much? Is there a maximum capacity for learning . . . [more]

I was recently asked which one area of civil legal aid I would protect from the upcoming spending cuts in the UK. It is difficult to single out one area of law, but I think I would protect employment advice in the civil legal aid budget for three reasons:

The rise in unemployment 

In the last three years there has been a substantial rise in unemployment and The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development predicts that in 2011 over 200,000 people in the UK will lose their jobs. This increases the probability that the number of people requiring advice regarding . . . [more]

One of the interesting elements of Google’s StreetView program was that its camera crews picked up and recorded the location of wireless hotspots that were not secured. This information was not, so far as I recall, published by Google, but its collection made some news. It seems to me, however, that one hears less often about ‘war-driving’ and other forms of cruising about looking for unsecured wireless signals in order to piggyback onto the Internet with them. Is that because there are so many public wireless access spots available nowadays, or because broadband access has become so cheap that one . . . [more]

For the record, I don’t support the NDP, and their fiscal policies are plain scary. But that doesn’t mean that their viewpoints on everything ought to be ignored. The NDP tech policies on issues such as net neutrality, usage based billing, and copyright are in many ways more compelling than the Conservative policies. Now that the Conservatives have a majority and don’t have to fight for their existence every day – lets hope they take a step back, take a deep breath, and take a fresh approach to tech issues.

The prosperous future of Canada is to a great extent . . . [more]

After speaking at the Legal Marketing Association Annual Conference in Orlando earlier this month, but before flying home, I managed to catch the event’s keynote presentation. It was delivered by Jeff Williford, a facilitator with the Disney Institute, which manages the Disney Corporation’s professional development and corporate culture. He described Disney’s disciplined approach to creating a business culture and applying it throughout the company’s 60,000-strong workforce. Law firms could stand to adopt a few of Disney’s philosophies in this regard (though maybe not the company’s custom of referring to its employees as “cast members”).

One of Jeff’s observations stood out . . . [more]

First of all, I’d like to thank Simon Fodden for inviting me to contribute to the site. It really is an honour to be able to contribute to such a well-rounded and popular blog.

Like my colleague Genevieve Lay (who also blogs on the site), I am a labour and employment lawyer at Ogilvy Renault LLP in Montreal. As a firm, we generally only represent employers. In thinking about how to introduce myself to the Slaw.ca community with my first post, I thought it best to talk about what I do and why I do it. Part of . . . [more]

The Wall Street Journal recently featured a fascinating article on how architecture influence how we think. Researchers have found that nearly everything about a room, from the height of its ceilings to the colour of its walls, has a direct impact on the quantity and quality of our thoughts. Not only that, but researchers have found our capacity to recall information, to be creative, and to draw connections between seemingly unrelated concepts is heavily influenced by our surroundings. While the connection between a room’s qualities and mood has been established for years, this research represents some of the first . . . [more]

We’re pleased to announce that Gabriel Granatstein will be joining Slaw.

Gabriel is a lawyer in the Montreal office of Ogilvy Renault, where he practices employment and labour law. He also writes for his blog, Quebec Labour Law.

Prior to joining Ogilvy Renault, he served as an officer in the Canadian Forces, where his duties included assisting in grievance processing, conducting administrative and disciplinary investigations and a period of deployment as a peacekeeper in Bosnia. He continues to serve as a reservist. . . . [more]

Are law school rankings legitimate? Play Indiana U's Law School Ranking Game

It was quite a surprise to read that Howrey LLP, a large US based law firm, recently closed its doors. From various accounts, there were a host of reasons the firm went out of business. The irony is that Howrey was a pioneering firm with a desire to innovate. 

There are some interesting lessons learned. Howrey began to offer a suite of discovery services similar to those provided by LPO [legal process outsourcing] vendors. Innovative, yes! But perhaps not that smart. It seems that the global legal landscape was innovating faster (than the firm). 

Bob Ruyak, the firms Chairman and . . . [more]