There have been two important and encouraging developments on the ethics of cloud computing over the last month.

First, the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 has issued an initial set of draft proposals addressing lawyers’ confidentiality-related obligations when using technology. The Commission’s draft report proposes:

• The development of a centralized, user-friendly website that contains continuously updated and detailed information about confidentiality-related ethics issues arising from lawyer’s use of technology, including the latest data security standards.
• Amendments to several Model Rules of Professional Conduct and their Comments to offer specific guidance and expectations relating to technology.

The amendments to the Model . . . [more]

I am always fascinated by how the law is viewed by non-lawyers. Fiction is always a good place to come across these viewpoints. I saw an excellent example recently when reading John Steinbeck’s ,The Grapes of Wrath.

It tells the grim tale of the Joad family, forced off their land in Oklahoma by drought and the economic hardship of the Great Depression.

They pile all of their belongings on to a modified truck and head west, lured by handbills calling for fruit pickers in California. Grandpa dies of a stroke on the road. The family is confronted with the dilemma . . . [more]

“Trainwreck!”

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are four bars – about eight seconds – into a song during a concert when The Boss yells out, “Trainwreck!”

It’s a song they haven’t played often, perhaps never even played at all. (They do that at times.) They’re close, but something’s off. It’s obvious to Springsteen and probably to the other band members as well – and he wants to fix it before it becomes obvious to the audience.

So he yells out “Trainwreck!” You can hear the smile in his voice; if he weren’t playing in front of 20,000 people, . . . [more]

We haven’t talked much about the killing of Osama bin Ladin here on Slaw, and there is considerable debate in international law over it. Contrary to what Jonathan Kay has said in the National Post, international law is still relevant, and even more so when the tables are switched.

Although it was completely unplanned, the Ontario Court of Appeal released a timely decision on Friday in United States of America v. Khadr dealing not with the more infamous Omar Khadr, but his brother, Abdullah Khadr, on extradition proceedings seeking to have him turned over to the United States.

In . . . [more]

The Ontario Court of Appeal granted leave recently to hear an appeal of Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. v. Ontario, a judicial review by the Ontario Superior Court holding that private product label regulations in s. 12.02 of Ontario Regulation 201/96 to the Ontario Drug Benefit Act (“ODBA”) and s. 9 of Ontario Regulation 935 of the Drug Interchangeability and Dispensing Fee Act (“DIDFA”) were ultra vires and of no force and effect.

Ontario has enacted sweeping reforms of the drug system in the province in the past year. The regulations discussed here prevented “private label” products from being sold . . . [more]

A message on the American Law Libraries – Private Law Libraries SIS Listserv has alerted me to: (i) A new blog by Law Librarian Jean O’Grady called Dewey B Strategic which has the subtitle of “Risk, value, strategy, libraries, knowledge and the legal profession,” and (ii) a recent intriguing post on this new blog called The Myth and the Madness of Cost Effective Lexis and Westlaw Research Training that raises the challenge (if not impossibility) of trying to teach “cost-effective searching” on Westlaw or Lexis to students or associates given the complexity of how these products are priced. Some examples . . . [more]

The Alabama State Bar in Montgomery Alabama is looking at setting up a fund to help out these lawyers get their offices back in operation. They have received pledges from RocketMatter and Legal Workspace but of course, the need is great and they can also use much more.

There are fabric shops and lumber yards (well, there used to be), stationery stores and the occasional real hardware store — all places where you can get the wherewithal to make things. Stuff. But there’s a whole lot of material that would be nifty to work with that’s either hard or impossible to come by. Think about all the different kinds of plastic that you come across every day — but where do you go to find a decent selection of that mundane substance? It’s difficult to locate even certain types of metal or metal that’s been worked into this . . . [more]

It is a well-documented and oft-lamented fact that the problem of limited access to justice is far worse in the rural and remote areas of Canada than in its cities and suburbs. Previous Slaw blog entries have outlined the multitude of distance-related obstacles that prevent many rural and small-town Canadians from finding quick and affordable resolutions to their legal problems. Geographic restrictions do not apply to legal problems, however. Wherever you find personal and business relationships, you will find legal problems. They stretch freely across the country—from “sea to sea to sea,” as Canadian politicians like to say these days. . . . [more]

Does our museum need a digital licensing agreement policy?

May we post content on flickr, YouTube or Facebook?

What special concerns do Canadian museums face in licensing digital content on a global basis?

What fees should our museum collect for the use of its content on an organization’s Web site?

Who should be part of our negotiating team when licensing digital content?

These are a sampling of the many questions museums face when licensing digital content. Libraries, other cultural heritage institutions as well as law firms, governments and a variety of organizations are all faced with signing various license agreements . . . [more]

I may be imagining things, but the little microphone image that now graces the right side of the Google search box wasn’t there yesterday. Regardless of when it arrived in fact, voice search on Google’s main web platform is welcome. It’s been there for a while on the Google Mobile app, and I’ve found it useful.

Of course, when there’s a full keyboard literally at hand, you may find it’s easier to let your fingers do the talking, but if you’ve got a built-in mic and if you’re not shy about talking to a thing — and a thing that’s . . . [more]

Lawyers work with words. Tears, fisticuffs, power drills, or whisks won’t take you very far when you’re arguing. I’m told that a good haircut and a good tailor can help; but even these won’t do much for you if you’re drafting. Basically, it’s your command over language that lets you make a case.

That being so, it’s not surprising that more than a few lawyers display an interest in grammar, syntax and usage — elements out of which meaning is made. Of course, these are some of the professional possessions of those who study in the field of linguistics. This . . . [more]