Based on a SLAW post I wrote in 2017, I was recently asked to speak at a conference for women lawyers on leadership. The article focussed on how to effectively lead practice groups and client teams. The date of the original article serves as evidence that I’ve been encouraging leadership skills development in lawyers for a long time, but it really began in the early 2000’s when I developed my initial processes for practice group management. Back then, I quickly realized that most of my training and support would need to be with the practice group leaders. They set the . . . [more]

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and which French-language case have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about.

For this last week:

1. Lavergne-Poitras v. Canada (Attorney General), 2021 FC 1232

[58] The Attorney General concedes that forced medical treatment, including forced vaccination, would engage liberty and security of the person interests under section 7 of the Charter. However, the Attorney General argues that the supplier vaccination policy does not mandate vaccination, and that section 7 does not protect purely economic interests, including an . . . [more]

In Innocon Inc. v. Daro Flooring Constructions Inc., 2021 ONSC 7558, Justice F. L. Myers writes that “Parties should expect case conferences to be used to resolve summarily procedural issues with greater frequency. With current backlogs and resource limitations, there is simply no judicial time available to schedule short motions especially those which, like here, are tactical and do not advance the resolution of the case on its merits”.

Case conferences are on the rise for good reason. They help move cases forward by:

• (a) providing an opportunity for issues to be settled without a hearing,
• (b) providing an

Artificial intelligence is briskly transforming consequential decision-making, disrupting democratic institutions. Most recently, some 26 000 Dutch parents of immigrant background or members of cultural communities stood wrongfully accused of defrauding their government with disastrous consequences, including suicide. It later surfaced that the authorities had naively procured an algorithm to more efficiently detect the fraudulent obtention of child benefit subsidies. Unbeknownst to the AI deployers or its victims, the procured algorithm insidiously factored ethnic origin in its assessment, thereby effectively disproportionately singling out immigrants or those holding dual citizenship. Disturbingly, this occurred notwithstanding multiple stringent, time-honoured legal prohibitions on such practices . . . [more]

INTRODUCTION

A group of lawyers have entered the fray against Covid-19 restrictions, issuing a document with the ringing title, “Free North Declaration” (“Declaration”) (see here for the version dated November 23, 2021). A strident endorsement of individual freedom, the document picks up on the canards that have permeated the debate over these many months.

By identifying themselves as “Canadian lawyers”, one assumes the originators of the Declaration seek to give it a veneer of authority that many protests against the various Covid-related restrictions governments have imposed lack. Here I explore the document, identifying what in my own view are legitimate . . . [more]

I wish to consider two copyright initiatives currently underway in Canada and the United States, as they bear on changes in intellectual property law, and hold lessons for my efforts to increase public access to research and scholarship. Researchers are identified as a concerned party in the Canadian instance, while the American example, if tangential to scholarly publishing, still raises questions about copyright today that only serve to encourage my own thinking about copyright reform.

On July 16th, 2021, the Government of Canada issued A Consultation on a Modern Copyright Framework for Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things on . . . [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.

Practice

All the Better to See With: Avoiding Wolves Dressed Up Like Clients
Shawn Erker

There’s a knot in your belly. Earlier today you received an email from your client asking you to wire the proceeds of a large real estate transaction to an updated account number. You complied, of course. It’s their money after all. … . . . [more]

The Supreme Court of Canada plays a special role in our constitutional democracy, but it’s often one that is not fully understood by the public, or even the legal profession.

Over 20 years ago, Lorraine E. Weinrib stated in “The Supreme Court of Canada in the Age of Rights,”

Democracy does not trump the other principles; nor is it the
raison d’etre of the Constitution. One can sum up the Court’s analysis with the following statement from an Israeli judgment elucidating the Israel’s new rights-protecting system, which is, in part, modelled on Canada’s Charter:

“true” democracy recognizes the power

One Sunday each month we bring you a summary from Supreme Advocacy LLP of recent decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Advocacy LLP offers a weekly electronic newsletter, Supreme Advocacy Letter, to which you may subscribe. It’s a summary of all Appeals, Oral Judgments and Leaves to Appeal granted from October 21 to November 17, 2021 inclusive.

Appeals

Criminal Law: Parties to Offences; Issue Estoppel
R. v. Cowan, 2020 SKCA 77, 2021 SCC 45 (39301)

The trial judge committed an error of law in his analysis of party liability, which had a material bearing on . . . [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) : Le tribunal prononce, relativement aux chefs d’accusation de meurtre au second degré et de tentative de meurtre, des verdicts de non-responsabilité criminelle pour cause de troubles mentaux à l’égard d’une mère ayant poignardé ses 2 filles.

Intitulé : R. c. C.P., 2021 QCCS 4382
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:

• Litigation Legal Assistant (Full-time) | Chilliwack, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group)
• Junior/Intermediate Solicitor (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Owen Bird Law Corporation)
• Corporate Tax Lawyer (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Thorsteinssons LLP)
• Senior Conveyancer (Full-time) | Chilliwack, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group)
• Corporate Services