Written by Daniel Standing, LL.B., Editor, First Reference Inc.

Thankfully for servers who work in restaurants, most patrons aren’t like Mr. Pink from the movie Reservoir Dogs who refused to tip. The practice of tipping used to strictly involve cash, but in more recent times, when customers pay for their meals electronically, they often include a tip, leaving it up to the employer to dole them out. The question at issue in 2022 FCA 151 is whether the employer’s payout of tips to its servers is to be considered contributory salary under the Canada Pension Plan, and insurable earnings under . . . [more]

I wish to respond to the NSRLP’s August 9^th post entitled The Failure of Unbundled Legal Services to Meet the Crisis in Access to Justice. While I loved the article, the title gave me pause.

The title implies that unbundled legal services have been a failure. Yet the body of the article says:

For all these reasons, unbundled service ought to be a practical and useful alternative for increasing access to justice for many more litigants, for a more efficient legal system, and for a mutually satisfying service model for both clients and lawyers.

Perhaps the title was intended . . . [more]

A motion set to be debated at a Convocation this week calls for the Law Society of Ontario to fix 2023 licensing fees at their 2022 level. Writing in The Lawyer’s Daily, the bencher moving the motion, Chi-Kun Shi, says her motion arises out of concern for “fiscal responsibility” and “especially” the survival of “small and sole practices”.

The motion, which is seconded by bencher Cheryl Lean, appears to be setting the stage for a 2023 bencher election in which the ‘Stop SOP’ slate hopes to campaign on the basis of fiscal restraint and reducing fees. In fairness, there . . . [more]

It’s about two years since my first forecast column for Slaw, and as the future is always rising to meet us, I thought I would do an updated version as we approach 2023. Some of my forecasts have stayed the same, some have moved from medium or long term to near or medium term, some are new, and some have been removed, but the forecast isn’t very different than the first one I wrote. As before, I’m interested to see any comments you may have on my predictions or things you think I’ve missed.

Here is my revised forecast . . . [more]

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and French-language cases have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about. La version française suit.

For this last week, the three most-consulted English-language decisions were:

1. R. v. Tessier, 2022 SCC 35 (CanLII)

[141] In what follows, we refer to the standard police caution as a warning to differentiate it from the Charter cautions that police provide to fulfill their informational duties under ss. 10(a) and 10(b) of the Charter. While this Court referred to “warning[s]” and . . . [more]

In a previous tip, I talked about how you could use an RSS feed to track the progress of Canadian federal government legislation. The website has since been updated and how you set up an RSS feed has changed. 

To set up an RSS feed now, go to https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bills and then click on “Show More”. You have the option to set up a feed using a text search, bill type, and current status as well as a number of other options.

For example, if you wanted to be alerted any time there were proposed legislative changes to the Canada . . . [more]

Financial institutions – and their legal advisors – need to keep up with new regulations, deal with ongoing issues, emerging trends and technologies and manage the human and technological resources required to get the job done. The speed of change is rapid, and the demands are increasing.

The Osgoode Certificate in Regulatory Compliance and Legal Risk Management for Financial Institutions will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of crucial regulatory compliance requirements, the intersection of compliance and enterprise risk management in financial services and the practical strategies you need to meet them.

Practical, relevant and engaging.

Join the ranks of . . . [more]

Having recently done my first in-person mediations in more than two years, I’ve been thinking again about how much benefit there really is over mediating online.

This was prompted by a recent mediation where the parties and their lawyers had travelled from across Canada and the United States to meet in person for a full day mediation in Toronto. At the end of the day the parties had not settled – and were still very far apart. The participants were anxiously checking their flights and travel time to the airport.

“I really thought we would get a lot more out . . . [more]

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) : Un policier ayant été impliqué dans une collision alors qu’il conduisait un véhicule de patrouille à plus de 180 kilomètres à l’heure devra subir un troisième procès en raison des erreurs de droit commises par la juge de première instance; cette dernière a omis d’analyser la défense . . . [more]

In 2019, a case came before the Magistrate’s court in Lagos state, Nigeria involving a micro-lending company looking to recover a loan from a borrower. A lawyer represented the micro-lender. The borrower represented himself because he could not afford to retain the services of a lawyer. The lawyer filed an application for summary judgment for the entire loan sum. The borrower responded through an affidavit and a written memorandum. He argued that judgment could not be summarily given to the micro-lender because he had repaid part of the loan.

However, all the material aspects of the borrower’s affidavit were arguments . . . [more]

Each Friday, we share the latest job listings from Slaw Jobs, which features employment opportunities from across the country. Find out more about these positions by following the links below, or learn how you can use Slaw Jobs to gain valuable exposure for your job ads, while supporting the great Canadian legal commentary at Slaw.ca.

Current postings on Slaw Jobs:a

• Family Lawyer (Full-time) | Langley, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group LLP)
• Senior Conveyancer (Full-time) | Langley, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group LLP)
• Litigation Lawyer (Full-time) | Chilliwack, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group LLP)
• Litigation Associate (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Bernard LLP)
• Manager, Community

Written by Lewis Waring, Paralegal, LL.B., Articled Clerk, Editor, First Reference

In a recent Alberta ruling, a small employer was found to have discriminated against its employee on the grounds of family status when it removed her role and dismissed her for cause following the resignation of her common-law spouse. Given its refusal to recognize the employee’s taking of medical leave in her final days of employment, the employer was also liable for disability discrimination under the Alberta Human Rights Act. . . . [more]