Android-powered phones and tablets are an increasingly prevalent option for lawyers. Android was the operating system on one-third of the smartphones sold in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to the Wall Street Journal. The power of these devices is not the operating system, though. Just as with Apple’s iPhone and iPad, the real punch comes from the small software apps that you install on your device. Unlike Apple, you don’t need any intermediary software like iTunes to access the Android Market. Let’s take a look at some of the apps you might want to grab for your . . . [more]

Michael Carabash, the founder and CEO of Dynamic Lawyers, was recently featured on the television show Dragon’s Den, where entrepreneurs make a a business pitch to a panel of potential investors.

Carabash was selling an interest in his website and legal forms, which seek to provide legal services in a cost-effective manner to the public. The Dragon’s turned down his proposal, but Carabash feels the experience was still worth it.

You can catch a clip from the show here.

  . . . [more]

Over the last couple of decades as the rate of change in information technology has accelerated, it’s become fashionable for some to claim with pride and others to award with scorn the title of Luddite. As it happens, this March marks the bicentennial of the real Luddite uprising in the north of England. Richard Conniff has written a piece, “What the Luddites Really Fought Against,” that’s available on Smithsonian.com, correcting the misunderstandings that most of us have about who these followers of Ludd actually were and why they took to breaking machines.

Some facts surprised me: there was . . . [more]

 Canadians have long had a hand in Techshow - there have been at least 4 Canadian lawyers who have chaired ABA TECHSHOW and many many more have been speakers and Techshow planning board members.  By my count, there are at least 5 Canadian speakers at the 2011 conference.

Like most teenagers in Canada, my children have Facebook accounts. Some of the family rules for having a Facebook account is that my children must be my ‘friend’, we have a discussion about privacy settings, and acknowledgment that they know that I am watching their wall and photos for appropriate behaviour. The Mireau Giggles have had to sit through many discussions about privacy, bullying, the longevity of digital media, et cetera, et cetera. It probably drives them nuts, but parenting is a job.

One thing I do not have much control over is who tags them in photos. The only . . . [more]

I recently attended the mid-year meeting of ACLEA, the organization for continuing legal education professionals. This excellent group was started in 1964; it declares itself to be “a dynamic organization devoted to improving the performance of CLE professionals”. It has been a fantastic source of information and support throughout my CLE career. 

Many American CLEs have publishing departments. Some put most of their effort into publishing first-class course materials, but others, such as California (CEB), Michigan (ICLE), and Massachusetts (MCLE) are superb publishers of secondary material. I always enjoy reconnecting with my counterparts from across North America; we all . . . [more]

One of the ways that we at Slaw stay in touch with our readers is through search engines’ reports on websites that refer to us. The fact that the internet has shrunk the world — or expanded my small part of it, which is the other way to look at it — continues to amaze me, as it did once again when I came across a reference to Slaw in a Bulgarian blog on media law, [Медийно право] [Нели Огнянова]. What caught their attention, I should mention, was the recent post by Dan Pinnington, The 2/3 Rule Will Make . . . [more]

An updated version of the Canadian E-Discovery Case Law (Common Law) Digest has just been posted on the OBA website. This amazing digest is maintained by Peg Duncan and the members of the Sedona Canada Working Group Seven. If you are dealing with e-discovery issues this digest is a fantastic resource for finding relevant cases. You can find it here. . . . [more]

Over the years many in our profession have come to assume that part of the compromise we must make in order to have a robust practice includes sacrificing holidays, leisure time, and family time.

The longer I practice the more I question this way of thinking. I am far more productive when I am rested and rejuvenated. You likely would be also.

On a regular basis one should keep in mind that you need to maintain your soul and mind as well as your body. So, in addition to exercising, getting enough sleep, and paying attention to a healthy diet . . . [more]

On December 18, 2010 with a stroke of his pen, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law Public Law 111-314, creating Title 51 of the United States Code. Title 51 gathers together all in-force federal law on the topic of National and Commercial Space Programs. Since the Title was enacted as a single piece of legislation, it serves as positive law. There will be no need to refer back to the underlying publication of the statutes that make up its component parts in the Statutes at Large. Though I have had difficulty finding colleagues who find this event as earth . . . [more]

David Canton and Simon Fodden have both described ways in which Bill C-28 (FISA – the “Anti-Spam Act”) could affect businesses in unanticipated ways.

Stéphane Caïdi of Fasken Martineau introduces in The Gazzette yet another – the use of social media,

Businesses should, therefore, take warning that this law will apply not only to electronic mail, but to any type of communication technology or means, including social networking media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and promotional or advertising messages that are sent to users on their cellphones.

. . . [more]

or, in this case, British Columbia.

The BCCA decision in Clements (Litigation Guardian of) v Clements 2010 BCCA 581, reversing 2009 BSCS 112, implicitly points to a potential source of public unhappiness with the Canadian legal system, because of Tolofson v. Jensen [1994] 3 S.C.R. 1022, the Constitution Act, 1867′‘s s. 92 provision that property and civil rights are a provincial jurisdiction, and inter-provincial mobility, combine to mean that it’s likely enough that accidents occurring in BC will injure Canadians (and others) who aren’t residents of BC.

Ms. Clements was very badly injured in a motor vehicle accident. . . . [more]