Recently there has been debate about the concept of personal branding. Detractors of personal branding argue that companies, objects and services can be branded, but that people cannot be branded in the same way. Much of this debate seems to hinge on the idea that to undertake acts of personal branding, one must relinquish a degree of humanity and individuality. This couldn’t be further from the truth and is purely an issue of semantics.

Branding is the process required to create (and maintain) a controlled and instant impression of the identity or personality of the subject in the minds of . . . [more]

A little while back, I reported that the humorous English law blogger, Tim Kevan, who writes as Baby Barista, had jumped ship from the Times, because of their new paywall: Baby Barista Bails From Times. Now I’m happy to tell you that Mista Barista has landed safely on The Guardian’s shores. The Guardian, as I’ve mentioned, is taking a rather different tack from that pursued by the Times, and is doing its best to embrace what is good about the internet. Here’s hoping that (having started a sailing metaphor, I shall continue:) enough wind fills their sails . . . [more]

Concerns over privacy issues with Facebook are not new, but the more recent changes did create expectations of intervention through the Privacy Commissioner.

I’m not sure if anyone expected a class action lawsuit in Canada.

Not surprisingly it’s the Merchant Law Group LLP that is heading this claim “for improper handling of confidential information and privacy issues.”

Tony Merchant said,

What Facebook is doing is a bait-and-switch process. The bait is that they wanted to be able to do demographic sales targeting, and the switch is that to do that, they needed to get into people’s personal information.

. . . [more]

A little-known Ontario law called the Public Works Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.55 received much publicity in the last few days due to the decision to designate a large swath of downtown Toronto as a “public work” (http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/source/regs/english/2010/elaws_src_regs_r10233_e.htm). It was said this was due to G20 security concerns, giving police wide powers to search people who even dared to venture near the G20 security zone.

Many were caught off-guard by this formerly little-known legislation. What does it do? . . . [more]

If there’s one lesson lawyers really should learn about participating in online communities, it’s this: how you contribute to a conversation is at least as important as what you contribute. Those who don’t appreciate this guideline run the risk not just of seeing their comments ignored, but also of earning a bad reputation that’s hard to shake.

I’m thinking specifically of lawyers who engage in strafing an online conversation, scattering self-promotional marketing messages at each landing point. They’re newcomers with some credibility in the marketplace, but have little invested in any specific virtual community. So they charge in, market, and . . . [more]

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Not very exciting, I know. But I used to live near here when I was a little kid. And anyway how many places do you know called “the Dingle”?

This is a map produced by MapSherpa, an online app that will kick out topographical maps of Canada — you know, the ones that show lines around levels, so you know how steep the hill is that you’re about to climb. (Read the bit in Wikipedia that says that I — and MapSherpa are perhaps misusing “topographical. But nevermind.) Nothing too dramatic around the Dingle, . . . [more]

Please welcome Jean-Marc Leclerc, our newest occasional contributor here at Slaw.

Jean-Marc is a partner in the litigation department of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Toronto. He practices in class action, antitrust and white collar crime litigation. He has also taught appellate advocacy at Queen’s University, where he received his LL.B. in 1999. From 1999­-2001, he was a law clerk at the Federal Court of Appeal for Justice Sexton and at the Supreme Court of Canada for Justice Major.

He is also a member of the Pro Bono Law Ontario Child Advocacy Project and Advocates’ Society Court of Appeal . . . [more]

As director of the Program of Legal Studies for Native People (PLSNP) I have several roles. One is advising prospective Aboriginal law students about how they might best prepare for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). This often leads to a discussion about why they have to take it at all since it is not created for Aboriginal Canadians or demonstrated to be a valid measure of skills for Aboriginal Canadians. (I can’t argue with that – when I asked for statistics about how LSAT score correlates with success in law school for Aboriginal Canadians, I was told that would . . . [more]

In a very curious custom, today seems to be the day when leases renew in Montréal, so it’s Moving Day, when a few hundred thousand Québecois decide to switch residence on the same day. Movers are sitting on their hands much of the rest of the year, but are booked solid for July 1 months in advance. Even at rates that are triple normal.

Why? . . . [more]

Happy Canada Day! Since it is a holiday day, my family is working on chores around the homestead. Today’s chore for the parents is continuing with backfilling for our current building project. This is the kind of chore that gives a person time to think.

I have been operating a jumping jack while my husband uses our tractor to put dirt in the trench around out new insullated concrete form foundation walls.

I think learning to use this tool and carrying out the task of packing dirt is an excellent analogy for the legal research process.

First, for any task . . . [more]

In May, the Ontario Court of Appeal reversed the lower court decision in Piresferreira v. Ayotte. The reversal limits an employee's ability to hold an employer liable for negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress in the workplace. The Court stated that employees may not make the charge of negligent infliction of mental suffering against an employer or supervisor for conduct in the course of employment.

Today is Canada Day, so it’s unlikely that there’ll be any other posts today — or, indeed, readers to read them, if there were. Of course, being Canada, we’ve managed to celebrate our nation on a single day that, unless it falls on a Friday or a Monday, doesn’t stretch to a long weekend the way that some other national holidays manage to. I’d like to think it has something to do with a concern about productivity, but . . .

Speaking of productivity, what would an entry on Slaw be if it didn’t produce even some small tidbit of . . . [more]