Recently, I have encountered a number of lawyers who have found themselves unemployed due to cuts or downsizing at their firms. Some of these lawyers were baffled that they had been let go; they had experience and were good lawyers who did their work well, kept their noses to the grindstone, made sure the work they were given by their practice groups or supervising partners got done, and met their billable hour requirements. They didn’t waste time socializing and kept out of the way, focusing on their billable work. But the very things that these lawyers thought should have kept . . . [more]

This communiqué distills the output of the experts’ deliberations at the Vancouver colloquium. While the depth of discussions obviously resulted in many subtleties which cannot be represented here, this document serves as the definitive record of the Vancouver gathering. It is organized chronologically, hewing closely to the agenda of the meeting

In 1910, an Englishman by the name of Percy T. Carden ^{[Fn. 1]} published an interesting proposal arguing for the creation of loose leaf law reports, which, at the time, generated considerable debate concerning the merits of ditching bound volumes in favor of publishing cases as single-issue slip opinions to be filed away in drawers. See Carden, Loose Leaf Law Reports, 26 L. Q. Rev. 75 (1910); see also Loose Leaf Law Reports, 30 Can. L. Times 244 (1910) (doubting that debris of littered “loose leaves” would ever find their way back to their proper places); Hawley, Law . . . [more]

A court in Illinois has recently held that showing a credit card number on a computer screen did not constitute printing that number: Kelleher v. Eaglerider, Inc., 2010 WL 4684037 (N.D.Ill., Nov. 10 2010). Internet Cases has the story.

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 [PDF] (FACTA) says that a merchant must not print out a receipt with more than the last five digits of a credit card number. Someone who did a transaction saw his full number on the screen, and sued for damages for breach of the statute. He lost.

In my view, I’m . . . [more]

It’s early for a year-end list, but I want to leave time for a response before we all boot down for the holidays. Here’s a list of the top Canadian information and privacy cases of the year. Comments are invited.

#1 Ontario (Public Safety a­­nd Security) v. Criminal Lawyers’ ­Association. The Supreme Court of Canada recognizes that the Charter gives the public a limited right of access to government information. A limited but profound new right. From June.

#2 R. v. National Post. In three separate decisions, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously holds that privilege claims made . . . [more]

The global Free Access to Law Movement has just acquired its 34th member. The Legal Information Institute of India (LIIofIndia) opened for public access at the end of November, though the formal launch isn’t until March of 2011.

LIIofIndia currently has 50 databases, including, as you’d imagine, case reports from the 28 state high courts, federal legislation, and case reports from federal courts. The databases are of varying depth, averaging, it would seem, five years or so.

The main (i.e. advanced) search form is here.

Some links need fixing. For instance, the “help” link on the main page . . . [more]

A SLAW hat-tip to Brenda Wong and her co-blogger Karen Sawatzky at Library Technician Dialog for making me aware of the following online slideshow called If you Want to Work in Libraries, Here are 10 Things You Need to Know by Ned Potter.

I think the author nicely captures some of the opportunities for working in the information field (e.g., working with people and technology) along with some of the challenges (e.g., constant change and tough competition).

Many of these topics arose in my regular guest lecture to the FIS 2133 Legal Literature and Librarianship class earlier this week at . . . [more]

London is slowly getting back to normal today after effectively being shut down for 2 days due to a massive lake effect snowstorm. Depending on where you are we have had between 2 and 4 feet of snow since Sunday night. You know its bad when I made a trek yesterday from home to the local convenience store pulling a toboggan to get gas for the snowblower and milk. And when UWO, Fanshawe, schools, malls and banks close, Canada Post stops delivery, and the city stops bus service. Some of those remain closed today. While the main roads are clear . . . [more]

Ever find that the change goal you most wish to breakthrough is the hardest to tackle? It’s like having one foot on the gas and one on the brake, you just can’t seem to progress. 

Chris wants to learn to delegate more effectively but every time he tries he gets burned and concludes it would have been easier if he had just done it all himself. Carrie has perpetually got too many of other people’s priorities on her plate. She would like to say no more often but every time a colleague or friend asks her for help she feels . . . [more]

This week in biotech was all about payers:

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which provides guidance on use of new drugs and medical technologies, showed yet again that price is a key consideration, backing an Amgen drug only after being offered rebates by the manufacturer. This is one example of the general trend that regulatory approval is necessary, but not sufficient, for a successful product — .

Medicago, a Canadian company, because the US Department of Defense is paying $21-million towards a new 90,000 sq ft state-of-the art production facility in North Carolina. Meanwhile, . . . [more]

News junkies unite! Postmedia has made the daily newspapers for 10 larger Canadian cities available on the iPad!

• Vancouver Sun
• The Province
• Calgary Herald
• Edmonton Journal
• Montreal Gazette
• Regina Leader-Post
• Saskatoon StarPhoenix
• Ottawa Citizen
• Victoria Times Colonist
• Windsor Star

And for now, they’re free. :) It’s also interesting to note, they’ve jumped right over typical first step of creating an iPhone app. . . . [more]

Argument is taking place right now at the SCC regarding online defamation in hyperlinks. The Montreal Gazette has a nice overview of the matter to date

Live tweeting can be followed by searching for #Crookes on Twitter.

Who would have guessed a couple of years ago that someone could sit in the gallery at the SCC and let the world know what questions the court is asking. Here is a sample thanks to tweets by cippic:

#Crookes Q: Does defamation only arise once a hyperlinker has been given notice of the defamation? A: No.

Q: Knowledge converts something that

. . . [more]