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.

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

1. R. v. Bissonnette, 2022 SCC 23

[3] More specifically, the question before the Court is whether s. 745.51 of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C‑46 (“Cr. C.”), which was introduced in 2011 by the Protecting Canadians by Ending Sentence Discounts for Multiple Murders Act, S.C. 2011, c. 5, s. 5, is contrary to ss. . . . [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

Timely
Neil Guthrie

This adjective isn’t my favourite. Perhaps it’s that weak, adverb-like —ly ending. It’s unobjectionable in a timely reminder, but in a timely manner is like fingernails down a chalkboard, somehow. … . . . [more]

It has been several years since we wrote on the topic of physical security, but it seems like a good topic now that so many law firms are changing how lawyers work. While there are some law firms demanding that all their lawyers return to work, more and more law firms have settled into a hybrid workplace environment. Many cybersecurity topics are sexier, but maintaining physical security is more critical now than ever.

Old-fashioned Physical Security

Pre-pandemic, we thought about conventional physical security (which some law firms still do not have). We had self-locking doors, security cameras, alarm systems, locked . . . [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.

FAMILLE : Le père, dont les comportements aliénants ont mené à la rupture du lien entre l’enfant et la mère, a engagé sa responsabilité civile et est condamné à verser 30 000 $ à cette dernière.

Intitulé : Droit de la famille — 22741, 2022 QCCS 1681
Juridiction : Cour . . . [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:

• Civil Litigation Lawyer (Full-time) | Red Deer, AB
  (Chapman Riebeek LLP)
• Director of Public Prosecution Service (Full-time) | Halifax, NS
  (Gerald Walsh Associates)
• Director of Programs and Partnerships (Full-time) | Virtual with a preference for Ottawa or Montreal
  (CanLII)
• Real

Does finding help in your community when you are experiencing troubles produce a sense of wellbeing and security? Do feelings of well-being and security matter as outcomes?

The criminal law perspective has dominated the public and professional discourse about community security and wellbeing for decades. This has ranged along the political continuum from tougher crime control measures and mandatory sentences intended to remove criminals from our streets to community policing intended to make a police presence both a comfort and a protection for community residents. Let’s now turn our attention to the role of access to civil justice in community . . . [more]

On May 26, 2022, Convocation is considering recommendations from the Competence Task Force. The key recommendations are outlined below:

• Effective January 2024, all licensees who are designating as sole practitioners for the first time would be required to take a practice essentials course comprised of practical training on foundational practice and business management topics.
• The Rules of Professional Conduct and the Paralegal Professional Conduct Guidelines be amended to adopt the commentary regarding technological competence included in the Model Code of Professional Conduct.
• The Certified Specialist Program be wound up, effective September 1, 2022, with:
  1. current Certified Specialists able to use

An interesting article in a US legal periodical last month discussed the rising incidence of an already widespread problem for new lawyers. Impostor syndrome — “the internal experience of doubting your abilities or feeling like a fraud” — has afflicted junior lawyers for a long time. But the pandemic has made it worse:

“Many [new lawyers] have spent very little time in physical offices, which means they have less opportunity to commiserate with peers and may feel as if they are somehow ‘uniquely deficient’ when they are not…. For many lawyers, a lot of confidence is instilled by being immersed

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.

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

1. R. v. Brown, 2022 SCC 18

[2] At common law, automatism is “a state of impaired consciousness, rather than unconsciousness, in which an individual, though capable of action, has no voluntary control over that action” (R. v. Stone, 1999 CanLII 688 (SCC), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 290, at para. 156). It is sometimes said that . . . [more]

In April, former Alberta Justice Minister Jonathan Denis was found in contempt of court because a letter sent on his behalf threatened to bring an action for defamation against a plaintiff who was in the middle of giving testimony in a civil trial.

The plaintiff, Dr. Sauvageau, was Alberta’s top forensic pathologist from 2011-2014, and was suing the province alleging that she had been forced out of the job because she raised concerns relating to political interference. Mr. Denis was not a defendant in the action, but was the justice minister at the time the allegations pertain to.

As reported . . . [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

A Possessive Puzzle
Neil Guthrie

Is it Amber and Veronica’s children or Amber’s and Veronica’s children? It could be either, depending on what is meant. The first refers to the children Amber and Veronica parent together; the second to two sets of children, separately parented. … . . . [more]