Here’s an interesting paper outlining what looks to be a very interesting research tool currently being developed for Google: A “research trail” generator as a browser feature.

We propose the concept of research trails to help web users create and reestablish context across fragmented research processes without requiring them to explicitly structure and organize the material. A research trail is an ordered sequence of web pages that were accessed as part of a larger investigation; they are automatically constructed by filtering and organizing users’ activity history, using a combination of semantic and activity based criteria for grouping similar visited web

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In the course of this profession you occasionally come across little oddities that catch your attention and amuse you. When it happens to me I often share them here at Slaw. The most recent oddity to catch our attention is an interestingly named case from Nova Scotia in 1919, The King v. Fifty Gallons Rum, (1919) 53 NSR 131, 31 CCC 10. Hitherto I had been unaware that an inanimate object could be named in an criminal case. In this instance it seems that Fifty Gallons of Rum, was caught at the wrong place, at the wrong . . . [more]

There is a commonly held myth that the gender gap in partner compensation is due to women billing fewer hours and spending less time on client development due to their greater responsibilities at home. This myth has been exploded in a recent study [PDF] published by The Project For Attorney Retention and sponsored by the ABA Commission for Women in the Profession.

Amongst other findings, the report states that factors that work against women partners include the lack of women on compensation committees where bonuses and compensation criteria are set; the lack of transparency around compensation criteria; the lack of . . . [more]

As it did a number of years ago with his earlier book, In the Public Interest, Irwin Law has just released a new book of essays edited by Michael Geist in both print and in PDF. And, as before, the version available online is offered under a Creative Commons license.

From “Radical Extremism” to “Balanced Copyright”: Canadian Copyright and the Digital Agenda is a book of 20 essays by Canadian scholars that tries to move the current copyright debate “toward an informed analysis of Bill C-32 and the future development of Canadian copyright law.” Bill C-32, as readers . . . [more]

I read with interest an article out today in the Law Society of BC Bencher Bulletin about virtual law firms.

Some quotes caught my particular attention. Specifically, a Practice Advisor at the Law Society of BC is quoted as follows:

Some lawyers are so keen on the technology and reducing overhead by having a ‘virtual law firm’ that they are not putting their minds to the professional responsibility issues regarding confidentiality, conflicts, client identification and verification, determining mental capacity of the client to instruct, undue influence over the client and so on.

There are currently very few law firms that . . . [more]

Leslie Wolf of the California Digital Library has written a quick point-by-point guide to how to organize smooth-running virtual meetings:

We spend our days attending lots of meetings, yet the well-managed meeting stands out as a rare gem. It’s not easy to run a good meeting, and in our increasingly virtual world it’s even harder to run an effective virtual meeting. But it’s a skill worth practicing, and your teammates will thank you for it.

The author provides a number of suggestions for what organizers should do before, at, during and after the meeting.

And here is Monty Python’s . . . [more]

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released last month a report out of the Oversight and Review Division, Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The mandate of the OIG is to conduct independent investigations and special reviews of DOJ personnel and programs. The purpose of this 200-page redacted report, A Review of the FBI’s Investigations of Certain Domestic Advocacy Groups, was to respond to media reports and Congressional inquiries alleging that the FBI had improperly targeted domestic advocacy groups between 2001-2006bsolely based on their peaceful exercise of their First Amendment Rights.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren’s letter to the . . . [more]

Today’s Dispatches on CBC Radio includes a four-minute report by Carol Rosenberg on the way in which reporters are treated at “Camp Justice” Guantánamo. Rosenberg is a reporter for the Miami Herald and has more experience covering trials there than anyone.

Now that the trial of Omar Khadr is back in the news — and lest you harbour any illusions that what is going on bears even a scant resemblance to justice — you might like to listen to the portion of the program featuring her. (The full broadcast of Dispatches is available here.)

You might . . . [more]

When it comes to word processors lawyers will almost universally use either MS Word or WordPerfect. These giant applications contain hundreds of features that are capable of meeting just about any imaginable need when it comes to document creation (except proper typesetting). And, in the case of Word, it integrates more or less smoothly with the rest of the Office suite of applications. Powerful stuff.

This muscularity comes with a price, though. There’s the literal price, of course. Then there’s the need to have a decent-sized pack animal around to port the app along with you on your travels. As . . . [more]

With a hat-tip to my young colleague, Michael Ladanyi:

While the decision is not yet posted online, according to the Federal Court website, Amazon.com’s appeal of the Commissioner’s Decision denying Amazon.com a patent for its 1-click purchasing was granted today. The status update giving notice that the appeal was granted can be seen here. The application describes purchasing items over the Internet using a single-action by transmitting a client identifier associated with information about a buyer.

Here is the full text of the status update posted online today:

Reasons for Judgment and Judgment dated 14-OCT-2010 rendered by The

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Following the landmark ruling on September 28, 2010, by Ontario’s Superior Court Justice Susan Himel, which struck down various sections of the Criminal Code of Canada dealing with prostitution because of safety and security concerns to sex trade workers, and effectively decriminalized prostitution in Ontario, another case in British Columbia would like to follow suit.

It remains a continuing problem as to how to destroy digital data. In some instances one may have to destroy the storage medium itself.

Lately the Florida State Bar published a proposed advisory ethics opinion to the effect that lawyers have an obligation to ensure that confidential data — personal information but also client data generally — must be effectively erased from any storage medium before that medium is disposed of. This extends beyond computer drives to cell phones, digital fax machines and copiers (which have memories that keep the data), and even to third-party service providers’ equipment. The opinion . . . [more]