New editions of three Canadian legal research guides are coming out this summer, in time for the 2010/2011 academic year. Each is reviewed individually below, followed by some general comments. The books reviewed are:
Legal Research and Writing, 3rd edition, by Ted Tjaden
Legal Problem Solving – Reasoning, Research & Writing, 5th edition, by Maureen F. Fitzgerald
The Practical Guide to Canadian Legal Research, 3rd edition, by Nancy McCormack, John Papadopoulos, Catherine Cotter

Legal Research and Writing, 3rd edition
by Ted Tjaden
published by Irwin Law, 2010
price: $48.95
ISBN: 978-1-55221-175-2
Companion website: www.legalresearchandwriting.ca

"A sophisticated . . . [more]

As we were alerted in a comment by Nick Holmes last year at this time, the U.K. has gathered together in one place nearly all of its online legislation. Legislation.gov.uk is managed by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, in turn part of the U.K. National Archives. At the moment the site is still lacking a promised “changes to legislation” function that will chart the various amendments, repeals, etc. to legislation occurring since 2002. There is, however, a point-in-time search facility.

Curiously, I’ve been unable to find a statement on the site as to whether the online version of . . . [more]

An English court has ruled that the material hyperlinked to an online article alleged to be defamatory can be read to put the article in ‘context’ to understand its meaning: Islam Expo Ltd v The Spectator [2010] EWHC 2011 (QB). (See the story on OutLaw.com.)

Despite the rather unusual statement by the judge that he took the hyperlinked material into account “without thereby intending to imply any ruling, one way or the other, as to whether that approach is right in law” (para 15), I don’t find what he did to be unusual.

Would not a Canadian court do . . . [more]

On more than one occasion, clients have complained to me about what happens after the outsourcing contract is negotiated. The customer or service provider is sobering up from the euphoria brought on by signing the contract, often after months of intense, complicated discussions. They are starting to grapple with the overpowering reality of managing a complex outsourcing relationship on a day-to-day basis. That is exactly the moment when large components of the negotiating team disappear, usually including the lawyers who have supported the delivery organization throughout the contract negotiations. Members of the delivery team aren’t lawyers, but they are left . . . [more]

Actually, it’s this fortnight’s biotech highlights as we catch up from the long weekend. Like everything else in this feels like 35° summer, the biotech market freeze is melting a bit. Ontario in particular has been heating up lately, thanks to two government funding initiatives:

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), which gave BDC $50 million for Ontario tech investments last year, has allocated $45 million this year to the NRC’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP). The NRC-IRAP program has been active in funding life science companies, so this money seems likely to provide a . . . [more]

One of the biggest “aha” moments of my life happened in a self-development course in my mid-30’s when I realized that I didn’t have to practice law like a man in order to be successful. I could be feminine and still be taken seriously. This realization was enormously liberating, as I was able to relax in my own skin and stop trying to be someone I wasn’t. I discovered that a more collaborative and “softer” approach in negotiations or when dealing with opposing counsel was more successful for me than the aggressive male style I had been trying to emulate. . . . [more]

The Canadian Section of the International Commission of Jurists is comprised of approximately 600 judges, lawyers, law professors, and law students from across Canada who support the Rule of Law, Human Rights, and Judicial Independence, internationally as well as nationally. It operates under the umbrella of the International Commission of Jurists based in Geneva. Justices Ian Binnie of the SCC and Michele Rivet of Quebec are Commissioners to the ICJ representing Canada.

The annual general meeting of ICJ Canada scheduled for Monday August 16, 2010 in Niagara Falls in conjunction with the AGM of the Canadian Bar Association, will include . . . [more]

The International Legal Technology Association has its annual conference ILTA 2010 just around the corner. This association and its conference includes some of the leading law firms in North America and looks at not only technology but also records management, information management, knowledge management, social media and related areas. This year’s theme is “Strategic unity”

a concept that resonates the need for law firms and law departments to unite their technology with the practice of law. These disciplines must come together as never before in order to survive and thrive in the future. Conference sessions will be developed around this

“Sharpen the Saw” was #7 on Stephen Covey’s list of the habits of “Highly Effective People” The main point was that effectiveness requires continuous attention to self renewal and maintenance. The same applies to the technology systems we often just take it for granted. It is easy to go months without turning our minds to the mundane task of taking the time to keep it all working well. 

When an unexpected “disk full” situation arose recently the subject got my attention very quickly. A user “whoops” had inadvertently moved a large number of files. They seemed to . . . [more]

The potential ban against BlackBerry devices in Saudi Arabia has been averted, for now. The Saudi government is implementing a 48-hour grace period until tomorrow while they test out a deal reached which would allow them to monitor messages for criminal activity,

Officials say the deal involves installing BlackBerry computer servers in the kingdom, which would allow the Saudi government some access to user’s data.

Any agreement has to apply to all three of the mobile operators in the country, including Saudi Telecom, which is state-controlled, Mobily and Zain Saudi Arabia.

If the plan is successful it may help . . . [more]

But not me. Really.

The Periodic Table of Irrational Nonsense.

I figure he left law/lawyers out because it/we usually occupy a higher position in the periodic table.

[hat tip “Da Boid O”]

DC . . . [more]

As you read this, I’ll be lolling on a beach in Ontario that’s the lovely part of an island described by some as a sandbar held together by poison ivy. It’s not nearly as bad as that makes it sound. But the shrub Toxicodendron radicans is, in fact, pervasive, and I’m really, really allergic to the nasty urushiol it offers up to the unwary.

Those of us who revel in concrete surrounds and the comparative safety of traffic tend to forget that nature has green claws that can make trouble. There’s poison oak, as well, and poison sumac. Now I . . . [more]