In the past decade, various law societies, bar associations, and members of the judiciary have allowed and tacitly endorsed the provision of unbundled legal services. For law schools, members of the profession and judiciary, and professional regulators who recognize the crisis in access to justice, these unbundled services or limited scope retainers (and legal coaching) ought to be a vital addition to the access to justice landscape: they provide people with the kind of supports that are needed to resolve their legal issues.

The case for unbundling

Unbundled legal services provide limited help from a lawyer or paralegal while the . . . [more]

Here are excerpts from the most recent tips on SlawTips, the site that each week offers up useful advice, short and to the point, on practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Software Tools for Editing
Neil Guthrie

In the olden days, a pair of articled clerks would sit together with two versions of a document. One would read aloud the new version and the other would mark the changes on the old, striking through deletions and writing in additions then underlining them. A red pen was typically used, hence redlining. With the advent of the monochrome photocopier, . . . [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): En raison des exigences que lui impose la protection du privilège de l’indicateur, la Cour d’appel rejette les requêtes visant à obtenir la levée totale ou partielle des ordonnances de mise sous scellés et de caviardage du dossier d’appel ou un accès à celui-ci.

Intitulé : Re Personne . . . [more]

In a recent Alberta ruling, a Society was found to have wrongfully terminated a management contract with a company when it dismissed the company’s chief executive officer for breach of the management contract, but there was no wrongful dismissal as the CEO was not an employee, but an independent contractor.

Background

The Society operated an annual music festival in Alberta. In order to manage its festival, the Society consistently hired a separate organization to manage the festival. Part of that organization’s management of the festival was providing consultants to serve on the festival’s board of directors. These consultants included all . . . [more]

Near the beginning of every academic year, I ask students in my in Legal Research and Writing class (LRW) to complete a short in-class assignment. I provide them with news articles that cover legal issues and ask them to find the decision or legislation that is being discussed. At this point in the year, students have typically only recently been introduced to both open and proprietary legal research platforms. They are inclined to keyword search the same way that they might on Google. This is usually ineffective and gives them varying results across platforms. The point of the activity is . . . [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 most-consulted three English-language decisions were:

1. R. v. Kirkpatrick, 2022 SCC 33

[1] This appeal raises an important legal question about consent and condom use in the context of an allegation of sexual assault. What analytical framework applies when the complainant agrees to vaginal sexual intercourse only if the accused wears a condom, and he instead chooses not . . . [more]

There is a story about a dog leashed to a pole. Seeking freedom from the pole, it pulled against its leash. It bit its leash. It barked at everyone passing by. It yelped and it cried unceasingly. Finally its owner came and unleashed the dog. Did it then pounce away, as quickly as it could, away from the pole? It did not. Rather, it sat in the same place, quietly and contentedly. The lesson here is, supposedly, that we crave freedom as an ideology. We may continue to live the same way we did when we were leashed, but this . . . [more]

Many lawyers dislike the idea of selling. It is not why they got into law and it is not something many are comfortable engaging in. Firms tend to stay away from using the word “sales” by talking about business development and client service.

The main aim of a sale is to generate profit. The difference in sales vs. service is that servicing aims at supporting new and old clients in order to increase client satisfaction. A practice thrives by creating an experience that is not only satisfactory but builds upon multiple client concerns.

For a lawyer, the focus should always . . . [more]

Here are excerpts from the most recent tips on SlawTips, the site that each week offers up useful advice, short and to the point, on practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Trans and Cis
Neil Guthrie

As a result of popular culture (as much as anything else), most people are now aware of the meaning of trans (or transgender). It refers to someone who was assigned a gender at birth but who later takes steps to affirm another gender that more closely aligns with their true identity. … . . . [more]