Civil litigators are accustomed to counsel who pose and posture, typically needlessly, and in a manner that is counterproductive to resolution.

No, you will not likely be taking this matter to trial. That would be far too costly, and take far too much time for everyone involved, especially where the legal issues are just not that complex. In the meantime, counsel should put together practical solutions, and leave all the hot air for the sauna.

Unfortunately that is not what occurs in civil litigation, even though the pandemic would appear to call for such practical common sense more than ever. . . . [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) : L’article 718.3 (7) b) C.Cr., qui retire au juge chargé de la détermination de la peine son pouvoir discrétionnaire d’imposer des peines concurrentes ou consécutives en imposant des peines consécutives relativement aux infractions sexuelles commises contre des enfants, est invalide et inconstitutionnel.

Intitulé : Vera Camacho c. . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

Debates in Charity Law. Edited by John Picton & Jennifer Sigafoos. Oxford: Hart, 2020. 318p. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-50992-683-1 (hardcover) $90.00; ISBN 978-1-50992-684-8 (ePub) $90.00; ISBN 978-1-50992-685-5 (PDF) $90.00.

Reviewed by Charles R. Davidson
Davidsons Lawyers
In CLLR 46:1

Debates in Charity Law is an authoritative, wide-ranging look at issues . . . [more]

It may indeed be fundamental to the task of competing in commercial markets that providers, for present purposes in legal information publishing, just like European governments squabbling over their respective Covid responses, must not only create value and unique selling propositions for their goods and services, but also seek to destroy those of others, usually existing and long-established businesses. Some criticise whole industries and communities, to help make their own goods and services look better. Some fictionalise the legal publishing industry, simplistically to turn the spotlight on the possibly overstated merits of their own endeavours. However, I doubt . . . [more]

Allegations of patent infringement are comparatively straight forward when there is one party making and selling the patented product, or performing the patented method in Canada. It gets more complicated when multiple parties are involved in the alleged infringement.

Inducing infringement is well known in Canadian patent law and a defendant can be found liable for inducing someone else to infringe a patent. The three part test for inducing infringement has been summarized, such as in Corlac Inc. v. Weatherford Canada Inc., 2011 FCA 228, as:

1. the act of infringement must have been completed by the direct infringer.

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. Hamza v. Law Society of Ontario et al, 2021 ONSC 2023 (CanLII)

[27] The Notice of Application, affidavit and Factum filed by the applicant together amount to over 1,000 pages of rambling, pseudo-intellectual attacks on the LSO and the other respondents, expressions of his opinion on their character and integrity, racist and misogynist attacks on the respondents and the judiciary, arguments . . . [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

Finding WSIAT Decisions Online
Emma Durand-Wood

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) has published a detailed tip sheet on finding WSIAT decisions online. It explains how to search by topic, issue, words or phrases and more. Step-by-step instructions are provided for searching by WSIB policy number, section of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, and with summaries. … . . . [more]

If you discover the secret to success at work, should you tell everyone else? I have always thought the answer was “yes, and see if you can get your breakthrough approved as a conference presentation, too, for your resume.” But this week I’m meditating on the reasons you may want to try some innovations without sharing them, at least at first.

After a year of the pandemic, everyone on my team is dying for a break, or just some balance. We talk about zoom fatigue and burnout in almost every departmental (zoom) meeting. So I assumed that if one of . . . [more]

The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) was founded in 1971, under what is now Part II of the Judges Act, largely stemming from concerns from the Royal Commission of Inquiry from the Justice Leo Landereville affair.

The Council has 41 members, and in the modern world helps the Canadian judicial system keep up with the values of society. However, the the CJC has faced criticism over its policies and procedures in recent years.

The CJC has released several important guidance documents over the years, including the Ethical Principle for Judges in 1998. In 2006, the CJC released the Statement of . . . [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.

PROFESSIONS : La Cour d’appel infirme 2 jugements rendus par la Cour supérieure — l’un en civil et l’autre en pénal — qui paraissent s’appuyer sur des motifs incompatibles en ce qui a trait aux pouvoirs d’enquête du syndic d’un ordre professionnel et à l’obligation d’en divulguer l’objet.

Intitulé : . . . [more]

Can you spare 10 minutes to help researchers understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to legal services and its effects on the legal profession in Ontario?

A team at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Ryerson University is studying how the pandemic has affected legal clinics, law associations, law firms (lawyers, practitioners, paralegals, etc.), and other legal entities.

The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to legal services and in particular, how the changing circumstances have affected civil law firms, including their key performance indicators, revenue, costs, . . . [more]