The first question always posed to me seconds after learning that I am a criminal defence lawyer is “How can you defend those people?” or some variation of that classic accusatory inquiry. Recently however, this query is finding tight competition at the edges of inquiring lips with the question, “How’s the recession treating your criminal law practice, Ed?”

The answer to the first question, while nuanced and important, is one I would hope readers of a mature legal blog such as this one, would already know and respect. The answer to the second question is somewhat more difficult to articulate . . . [more]

Here’s a biotech countdown from the past week:

Six blog reactions were collected to In re Kubin, a U.S. patent case that invalidated one of Amgen’s DNA patent.

Five firsts appeared in this week’s science review collecting Canadian science developments, including stem cell news in cancer and blood.

Four billion dollars of economic activity was attributed to the Life Sciences sector in Delaware, and Arizona published some new data as well.

Three kinds of tech – biotech, cleantech and high-tech – got together in Illinois to strengthen support for a $25 million grant and tax break initiative . . . [more]

Over the past few years, various pundits and critics have raised all sorts of issues with legal process outsourcing (LPO). One way or another, these issues have largely been put to rest to the satisfaction of the legal industry and LPO clients.

So is quality the next issue? Is the quality of LPO work comparable to the quality of the same type of work being done onshore (i.e. in Canada)?

In February this year the American Conference Institute (ACI) held an India LPO Summit in New York. On the second day of the proceedings, Maria McMahon from Baker McKenzie reportedly . . . [more]

Canadian expatriates are up in arms about the recent amendment to the Citizenship Act, which came into effect on Friday, implementing a “one generation” rule limiting transmission of citizenship by Canadians born or adopted from outside Canada (section 3(3)).

Is this amendment really so terrible? Let’s consider a few examples.

Jane Canuck is born in the U.S. of Canadian parents, while her family is living there briefly. When she is a month old, her family returns to Canada, where she grows up and lives.

Under which of the following circumstances will Jane’s child be born a Canadian . . . [more]

Some recent posts have advocated the idea that law school publishers should “stop publishing” law journals in print. Instead, the posts say, the publishers should direct their energy to “creating definitive versions of their journals in digital formats and making the law review articles readily accessible in online repositories”.

I agree with the conventional wisdom that the demise of print formats for law journals and law reports is an inevitability and that it will happen in the not too distant future. Acceptance by the legal community of “digital only law journals” combined with economic realities will ultimately produce that result. . . . [more]

The Women’s Law Association of Ontario (WLAO) and the Law Society of Upper Canada will be presenting a program on alternative careers in law the evening of May 6th. From the program:

Not sure if your hard-earned law degree gives you what you need? Ready for a career change or just interested in learning about the hidden opportunities in and outside of law? Join us for our 3rd Annual panel of successful and influential women lawyers who have found their niche.

The panel looks outstanding:

Ritu Bhasin – Director of Student & Associate Programmes – Stikeman Elliott LLP

Mayo Moran,

April 13.—An extraordinary coincidence: Carrie had called in a woman to make some chintz covers for our drawing-room chairs and sofa to prevent the sun fading the green rep of the furniture. I saw the woman, and recognised her as a woman who used to work years ago for my old aunt at Clapham. It only shows how small the world is.

April 18.—Am in for a cold. Spent the whole day at the office sneezing. In the evening, the cold being intolerable

July 30.—The miserable cold weather is either upsetting me or Carrie, or both. We seem to break . . . [more]

For those of us who were unable to attend the 9th International conference on Law Via the Internet in Florence last year, the Vox PopuLII blog now contains a nice overview of the discussions. . . . [more]

Western Law has a new student paper, Amicus Curiae.

On page 7 of their second issue, released earlier this week, they profile some of the student bloggers in our school.

We have Legally Blogged, by Chris Crighton, who also maintains a site at Esse Quam Videri.

There’s also Dany Horovitz’s, Business Blogged, of the Financial Post Executive Blog. Dany is in the 3-year joint J.D./M.B.A. program with Ivey, the only one of its kind in Canada, and focuses more on business law. He also cross-posts to Law Is Cool.

And there’s a piece by Lawrence . . . [more]

We’ve observed a couple of Common Craft videos for new web technologies on Slaw over the years. The one that I remember most was their simplified explaination of LinkedIn that Connie posted last year. The same company has now released a 2.5-minute video about Twitter, a topic we covered a couple times last week:

For those looking to nail down a basic understanding, Jeremiah Owyang has started to craft a Twitter FAQ collection that may also be helpful. . . . [more]

Throughout this week Law Day is being celebrated in Canada. From the Ontario Law Day 2009 website:

Law Day is a national event celebrating the signing of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Originated by the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) and first held in Canada in 1983, Law Day is aimed at educating and informing the public about the role and importance of the law. Since many people have a limited knowledge about the law and how the legal system works, Law Day empowers the public at large. It provides an excellent opportunity for the profession to educate the

I picked up on a post this morning from Michelle Golden from the Marcom Writer Blog titled Pruning Deadwood from your Copy. The author Dianna Huff offers five solid tips for streamlining your content:

• Keep yourself to a specific word count
• Don’t fall in love with your copy
• Hunt down redundancies
• Print out the piece and look at it
• Consider *every* word

Knowing what an experienced group of writers we have here at Slaw, I was wondering if anyone would be willing to add to this list? Do you have a simple writing technique or strategy that trims volume . . . [more]