Canada’s online legal magazine.

Tips Tuesday: Use Cached Materials on Google

If you want a read a web page but it isn’t loading, you can look at the cached version on Google. Google makes a copy of each web page it indexes so that it can be used as a backup. 

You can access Google’s cached version in one of two ways. 

If you found the page through a Google search, simply click on the three dots next to the search result and then click on the button that says “cached”.

Alternatively, if you have the URL, go to Google and enter the link preceded by cache:, e.g. cache:https://www.gazette.gc.ca/accueil-home-eng.html. . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Information

Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Legal Sourcery 2. Meurrens on Immigration 3. The Lean Law Firm 4. Lash Condo Law 5. Welcome to the Food Court

Legal Sourcery
Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan Consultation Report on Occupiers’ Liability

The Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan has published a consultation report on potential reform

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : Les peines d’emprisonnement à défaut du paiement des amendes imposées à un jeune en situation d’itinérance et aux prises avec des problèmes de consommation de drogues sont annulées; la juge de première instance ne s’est pas déclarée convaincue que le requérant possède la capacité de s’acquitter des . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

2023 Walter Owen Book Prize

Applications and nominations are now being received for the Walter Owen Book Prize offered by the Canadian Foundation for Legal Research. The deadline for submissions is May 26, 2023. Additional information is available at:
https://cflr-fcrj.ca/walter-owen-book-prize/ . . . [more]

Posted in: Announcements, Legal Information, Legal Information: Publishing

Teaching Access to Justice: Some Early Initiatives

The world of legal services is changing. Whether everyone is onboard or not, it is no longer possible to deny the need for non-traditional delivery of services; a different attitude toward clients and justice-system users more broadly is needed. Given the reality that the vast majority of litigants are no longer able to afford traditional services, there is a growing expectation that clients will be able to access alternative, lower-cost services. As well, changing social norms about the relationships between clients and service providers means that the public expects more collaboration, more respect for their knowledge, skills, and experience, and . . . [more]

Posted in: Justice Issues

Co-Workers Liable for Racial Slurs at Staff Party

Lewis Waring, LL.B., Articled Clerk, Editor, First Reference Inc.

In a recent British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal ruling, an employee’s two co-workers were found to have discriminated against him when they uttered racial slurs during a physical altercation at a staff party. As the discrimination occurred during a work event and was connected to ancestry, place of origin, religion and race, the employee was protected by the British Columbia Human Rights Code. As a result, the employee was entitled to damages, which the two co-workers were liable to pay. . . . [more]

Posted in: Case Comment, Substantive Law, Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions

Weather Man or Professor?

I believe that a professor should always be on the lookout for innovative and enticing ways to engage students in class. The more a professor finds inspiring and captivating ways to convey a message or introduce new content, in my experience, the more students interact with the information in class and participate in the discussions.

Basically, this is the philosophy that prompted me to contact our law school’s media department and ask to use their fancy green room for my Foreign, Comparative and International Legal Research class. Despite my initial apprehension, the team gave me full liberty and my . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Information

Adjudicative Tribunals: In Need of Friends in High Places

Each year, over 100,000 Ontarians seek justice from Tribunals Ontario. This group of people —the size of a small city— includes tenants, landlords, motor vehicle accident victims seeking insurance benefits, people denied disability benefits, and those who believe that their fundamental human rights have been infringed. This group of 100,000 is significantly larger than the number of plaintiffs who start civil lawsuits in the Superior Court of Justice each year. The numbers are similar in other provinces. For most civil rights, tribunals are Canadians’ first and only opportunity to seek authoritative dispute-resolution and enforcement. The highest-volume fora within Tribunals . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Ethics

Tips Tuesday: The Cross-Referencing Feature

Ever been drafting an agreement which makes references to other sections or paragraphs in the agreement, added or removed a section, then realized that all of your paragraph references are now incorrect and you’ve got a big mess on your hands? Cross-referencing is the solution to this problem. Cross-referencing is a Microsoft Word feature that saves you from this very problem. The catch? Your document must have some sort of headings from the style guide or automatic numbering from which the cross-referencing menu can reference. Cross-referencing works by inserting a link to the paragraph which you are referencing, allowing it . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law, Technology: Office Technology

CALLABCD Conference IRL

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries conference is #IRL in 2023. Our theme Innovation Research Leadership features a focus on each topic during the event May 28-31 in Hamilton, Ontario. Early Bird registration is available for a few more days if you are looking for a discount price. The conference is a must for anyone working in law libraries and welcoming to anyone who has an interest in legal research, knowledge management, legal technology. This conference is our first in-person event since our 2019 meeting in Edmonton. Our virtual events were very successful the last couple years. Member focused activities . . . [more]

Posted in: Education & Training, Legal Information: Libraries & Research

Is Using AI for Marketing Content Cheating?

ChatGTP has been making headlines as one of the “smartest” chatbots on the market. It is easy to use and free to use. Simply come up with a topic or have it come up with one for you based on what is trending then sit back and let ChatGTP draft your next article. If it is that easy should lawyers be using it when developing marketing content? In reality, no, lawyers or anyone that is creating legal content should not be using AI exclusively. ChatGTP has not passed a bar exam after all so it cannot provide legal advice or . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Marketing

Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Crossroad Family Law Blog 2. Double Aspect 3. David Whelan 4. Legal Sourcery 5. Eloise Gratton Crossroad Family Law Blog Non-recurring Gains and Determination of Income for the Purposes of Calculating Child Support In many ways, the Federal Child Support Guidelines have simplified the determination of monthly

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

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This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada | Ce projet a été rendu possible en partie grâce au gouvernement du Canada