Consider this from the just released R v White  2011 SCC 13 at para. 133 per Binnie J, dissenting (McLachlin CJ and Fish J concurring)

• [133] Yet experience has shown that prosecutors will occasionally put forward as evidence of guilt, post-offence conduct that is essentially equivocal — such as the accused’s strange behaviour when first spoken to by the police or the fact he failed to render assistance to the victim. Even where considered of some slight probative value in relation to an issue in the case, its persuasive value in the hands of a skilled prosecutor may create unfair

. . . [more]

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” — Dr. Seuss (I Can Read with My Eyes Shut)

Early adopters they are not, but lawyers I have found are keen to learn. But as a group, it’s the drive to action that’s the biggest challenge, particularly if it cuts into billable time or doesn’t have an immediate or positive impact that’s within sight.

I’ve been talking a lot about social media to client firms and larger audiences for a while now and the results bring varying degrees . . . [more]

+ –

It seems simple when you put it that way. Anode, cathode. Positive, negative. Summer, winter. But things get problematic when the concept of positive and negative gets transferred into the English language.

In particular, it’s negation that seems to fox us, and particularly double negation. This is something that lawyers know about. After all, people have been poking fun at us for generations for using such nice expressions as “not inconsiderable” and “not unreasonable” etc., as though we were skilled enough to nail down that impossibly slim sliver of space between “reasonable” and “unreasonable.” I have to say . . . [more]

The Globe and Mail reported today that there’s some dissatisfaction with the way Ontario Court of Appeal Justice David Watt has written a few of his judgments. According to the story by Kirk Makin, “some traditionalists” are upset because the judge has imitated novelists, which, according to some critics, might be okay if you’re Lord Denning judging contract disputes but not where criminal law is concerned.

Makin quotes from a few of Justice Watt’s opinions, including, for example, R. v. Yumnu, 2010 ONCA 637:

[1] Tung Duong and Dung Ton fell out over money owed and product misappropriated

. . . [more]

I recently received an email from the University of British Columbia explaining that Access Copyright had proposed to raised the annual fee charged to UBC for “copying material from scholarly journals, textbooks, and other materials” by a factor of three. The university and its students’ bill for 2011 will rise from $650,000 to two million dollars. It was encouraging to see that in its email, UBC stated it was “actively considering a range of options to mitigate the financial burden.” 

I’d like to propose a further option for UBC and other institutions to consider. It draws on a historical principle . . . [more]

Happy Seventy Fifth Birthday to Justice Antonin Scalia, whose recent peevish dissents are discussed in a recent blog post from the NYT.

Had he been north of the border, he would have been packing his bags, just after blowing out the candles.

(2) A Judge of a Superior Court, whether appointed before or after the coming into force of this section, shall cease to hold office upon attaining the age of seventy-five years, or upon the coming into force of this section if at that time he has already attained that age.

. . . [more]

The fiasco of everything Charlie Sheen could only properly culminate in a lawsuit.

A breach of contract claim was filed today in Los Angeles by entertainment law firm Lavely & Singer for $100 million against Warner Bros. (WB Studio Enterprises, Inc.) and Hollywood executive producer Chuck Lorre.

A summary of the claim is available at The Globe. . . . [more]

Earlier this week, the Public Commission on Legal Aid in British Columbia released its report on the sad state of legal aid in the province.

Commissioner Leonard T. Doust makes 7 overarching findings:

• The legal aid system is failing needy individuals and families, the justice system, and our communities.
• Legal information is not an adequate substitute for legal assistance and representation.
• Timing of accessing legal aid is key.
• There is a broad consensus concerning the need for innovative, client-focused legal aid services.
• Steps must be taken to meet legal aid needs in rural communities.
• More people should be eligible

. . . [more]

We’ve all searched Google’s index only to find some pesky or creepy site masquerading as the answer to our query. Often it’s one of those curating-aggregating-wikiplagiarizing pages that add nothing to what others have already done and that often mangle things in the process. Now Google is giving us a way to block these sites from future search results. If you’re using Chrome 9+, IE8+ or Firefox 3.5+, you’ll start seeing on Google.com (but not Google.ca?) a new option next to “cached” below a search result: “Block all xyz.com results“. A click on this will prevent that page . . . [more]

Springtime is almost here and for those interested in spreading the word about access to justice this means planning for Law Day 2011 on April 14th.

Law Day is an annual event organized by the Canadian Bar Association that is made possible through the volunteer efforts of hundreds of individuals across the country who donate their time to this worthwhile event. Law Day takes various forms in different provinces and locations across the country however each event shares the common goal of engaging the public and educating them about the law and legal system.

Events this year are slated for . . . [more]

The AODA customer service standard outlines what businesses and other organizations in Ontario must do to make their goods and services more accessible to people with disabilities. Every person or organization that provides goods and services to members of the public or other third parties, and has at least one employee in Ontario, must comply; this includes law firms.

Fronterion, a consulting firm for outsourced legal services, recently revealed the Top 10 legal process outsourcing (LPO) trends for 2011 and released its second annual report outlining the prospects for the LPO industry in the coming year. 

The Top 10 LPO Trends for 2011 are: 

1) A Fundamentally Changing Legal Profession. Continued downward pressure on costs and the globalisation of legal services provide a perfect environment for LPO. Those who refuse to engage with LPO will increasingly become a minority – the industry can no longer be ignored.

2) Enterprise Approach. Many firms already outsource legal work at . . . [more]