There are times when, in this age of rapid technological change, I’m tempted to think that Slaw’s five and a half years of life make it a veteran. Some research I’m doing has led me back to one of my root interests in poverty law and to a true legal veteran on the web, PovNet. This anti-poverty group gives legal advocacy a central role, which should make it of interest to Slaw readers. From their website:

PovNet began in 1997 with a meeting attended by community representatives from all over British Columbia. Not a computer in sight. Advocates talked

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I first posted this as a comment but it is better front and centre.

Hmmm…. unless I missed something – ok, missed something else – nobody has pointed out why SLAW didn’t get a CLawBies and why the overall award now has the name it does. They’re related.

Without more setup, then, the explanation from CLawbies. 

You’ll notice a couple of changes in our lineup from previous years. We’ve renamed our top award — “Best Canadian Law Blog or Blogger” — in honour of Professor Simon Fodden, one of the founders and the driving force behind Slaw, which is

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On January 13, 2011 I participated in a webinar by Finis Price, iPhone and iPad for Lawyers: Apps You Need to be Using. Price is a personal injury lawyer in Kentucky who blogs on TechnoEsq.

Price started by dispelling some misconceptions about the iPad, which is not just a bigger iPod Touch. Despite having the same screen type and operating system, the larger screen allows much more functionality than smaller mobile devices.

An iPad can help efficiency and lighten loads when traveling out of the office or going to court. Price accesses nearly anything in his office . . . [more]

Ontario LCBO to sell beer deemed illegal in several jurisdictions.

As an active participant in the eLawyering task force of the American Bar Association, I have volunteered to compile a list of the types of regulations that inhibit the growth of virtual law practice. In a world plagued by access to justice issues, these regulations add to the cost of operating a virtual law practice and can make it economically unfeasible to do so, particularly for solos. I am not advocating the wholesale demolition of ethical rules but I would like to point out areas of regulation that need to be rethought in the modern context, as they are impeding . . . [more]

Today I offer simply a video that is one of the quickest 4 minutes and 48 seconds you’ll likely experience. Statistician Hans Rosing, whom we’ve talked about before on Slaw, takes 200 countries on a dynamic and audacious gallop across 200 years, to show us how the world’s health and wealth have changed. He is, as usual, engaging, enthusiastic, and informative. And I really like his accent.

Watch it below, or on YouTube in somewhat less constrained dimensions.

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There’s an interesting post over at Language Log, “Language skills and the law” by Mark Liberman, that sets a conundrum a bit like those strange criminal law exam questions profs are supposed to love. In this case, set out by the Philadelphia Inquirer, the issue involves a person arrested for smuggling a large quantity of drugs from Mexico into the United States as a “mule” for a well-known gang. The problem with what would otherwise be a sad but routine matter is that the defendant has minimal language skills: he is profoundly hearing impaired and seems never . . . [more]

So, congratulations on the merger and keeping a lid on the news until recently. I didn’t see one leak of this news. It’s quite a feat keeping the media at bay. I know; I’ve worked on two mergers. They get one whiff of merger negotiations and they pounce on your most vulnerable chatterbox. I would bet you had plenty of partners who were DY-ING to tell the story. Those of us on the marketing side of law… well, we like a little drama and plus, we can be controlling too.

Media can be relentless. They try all points of entry . . . [more]

Writers from Canadian Lawyer and Law Times magazines have co-launched the Legal Feeds Blog. And with close to 40 posts in their first four weeks, it’s great to see such strong early volume and blogging enthusiasm! [and yes Gail, I was hoping a Clawbies mention would inspire everyone to keep up the early pace!]

One attribute that really stands out for me, and it’s really more about editorial approach than anything, is the mixed delivery styles for their blog content. Whether it’s an early preview to the day’s story, a roundup of newspaper headlines, or a short opinion . . . [more]

In the wake of last weekend’s mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, I thought it might be useful to see what kinds of gun control laws exist in that state.

According to a number of sources, in the state of Arizona, pretty much anyone can buy pretty much anything that shoots. No questions asked.

The Legal Community Against Violence is a California-based public interest law centre dedicated to preventing gun violence. Last July, it published Gun Laws Matter: A Comparison of State Firearms Laws and Statistics. All 50 states were ranked according to 25 different polices. Arizona came last: . . . [more]

The Consumer Electronics Show is one large convention. Preliminary numbers after the first two days of the conference had 132,000 people in attendance. Attendees can be found at hotels up and down the strip (hotel prices skyrocket during the convention period). The convention centre itself showcases thousands upon thousands of square feet of exhibit space, not to mention the space used for keynotes, sessions, and other events.

One of my goals was to spend time wandering the exhibits looking for products that are both cool and useful for legal practice. I only spent a few minutes looking at the items, . . . [more]

My colleagues at the Canadian Association of Law Libraries / L’Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit (CALL/ACBD) are reminding us to get ready for that group’s annual conference meeting, this year held in Calgary from May 14-18, 2011.

The Conference website now has an ever increasing amount of content.

Early bird registration is March 16th.

The theme of the Conference is “Scaling New Heights” / “Ascension de nouveaux sommets”

Judy Harvie and her planning commitee are to be congratulated for their hard work in getting the conference ready and win the award for most puns possible on the theme of . . . [more]