Reflections by Gerry Ferguson, distinguished professor, faculty of Law at the University of Victoria.

Joe Arvay was a good friend to many of us and a shining star in our legal universe. When I think of Joe, I cannot get Elton John’s tribute song to Princess Diana (and Norma Jean) out of my head – “his candle burnt out long before his legend ever will.” Joe died of a sudden heart attack while still in full flight at age 71. Joe was viewed by many as Canada’s pre-eminent legal advocate for the civil rights and liberties of us all, . . . [more]

Criminal law can be differentiated from civil proceedings, where both sides are obligated to provide all relevant evidence, in that there is an inherent asymmetry in the information the Crown possesses. This is particularly important given the burden of proof that is imposed on the Crown.

The B.C. Court of Appeal stated in R. v. C. (M.H.),

 [29] …there is a general duty on the part of the Crown to disclose all material it proposes to use at trial and especially all evidence which may assist the accused even if the Crown does not propose to adduce it.

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.

ADMINISTRATIF (DROIT) : Le recours des demandeurs, qui souhaitent que le tribunal déclare invalide et inopérant le paragraphe 29 du dixième aliéna du décret 1020-2020 (Décret concernant l’ordonnance de mesures visant à protéger la santé de la population dans la situation de pandémie de la COVID-19), lequel instaure . . . [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:

• Director, People and Culture (Full-time) | Remote/Vancouver, BC
  (Ecojustice)

The following is my oral submission on February 4 to the Resource Stewardship Committee which is currently reviewing Alberta’s Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblower Protection) Act:

In my short time today, I would like to focus on measures that will create the trust needed for employees to come forward to report wrongdoing knowing that their jobs will be protected. This is the only way to make this legislation work effectively.

All of us here today, regardless of affiliation, share the values embodied in whistleblower protection. Wasted government resources, corruption, shocking newspaper headlines are not what anyone wants to see. This undermines . . . [more]

By Daniel Standing LL.B., Editor, First Reference Inc.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s decision in Yee v Hudson’s Bay Company, 2021 ONSC 387 is welcome news for anyone wondering about COVID-19’s effect on a reasonable notice period. For all of the upheaval that the pandemic has caused, it proved to be of little consequence to the notice owed to a dismissed company executive in this case. . . . [more]

Another teacher once told me to begin teaching legal research by asking students to find a pair of black dress shoes online.^[1] Students can be very intimidated by the beginnings of legal research, particularly post-search filtering, but many of these same students are quite adept at post-search filtering while shopping online. After giving students a few minutes to perform their shoe-shopping research, the teacher can analogize their just-displayed skills to the skills they’ll need for legal research.

First, ask the room who was shopping for men’s dress shoes and who was shopping for women’s shoes. Likely many people will . . . [more]

Some law firms last year experienced record profits, despite the pandemic. Part of the growth in revenue was due to the increase in private arbitration. As courts struggled to adapt, more litigants turned to private solutions, like mediation and arbitration.

In the article “As Trials Stalled, Shook Hardy Found Other Ways to Drive Revenue, Profits“, author Dylan Jackson explains that the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon saw their profits increase by 3.2% last year. The firm’s gross revenue increased to $364,776,000. Profits per partner increased to $995,000. The increase was attributed to a 50% increase in arbitrations . . . [more]

 “I think it’s fantastic that there is a university program in Canada dealing with E-Discovery, as education in this area is severely lacking. It’s a difficult area to come to grips with. The Osgoode program covers more than just E-Discovery, it also delves into the areas of information governance and privacy which are very important in every E-Discovery matter.”

Ann Halkett CEDS, Manager, eDiscovery Services, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP, Vancouver

We live in an information age, and the practice of law is built on information. Rapid advances in technology means that the volume of data being generated is . . . [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. Robertson v Arthikharnu, 2015 ABPC 257 (CanLII)

[26] For her services a lawyer is entitled to charge a fair and reasonable fee which will depend upon and reflect many factors. Rule 613 of the Alberta Rules of Court, Alberta Regulation 390/68, lists six factors and the commentary under the Code of Conduct, s2.06(1), lists eleven factors. These factors include such . . . [more]

“Sometimes it’s important to stop whatever break you’re taking and just do the work” – New Yorker Cartoon by Bruce Eric Kaplan

“Why, then, do so many experts insist that they’ve found the one true and right way? It’s a fact about human nature: when getting advice, we love to receive a precise, standardized template for success, and when giving advice, we love to insist that the strategy that works so well for us will surely work for others. But each of us must find our own way”.

Gretchen Rubin, Outer Order, Inner Calm

The working life of an . . . [more]

The words “family violence”, “domestic violence”, “intimate partner violence” and “coercive control” do not appear anywhere in the Federation of Law Societies of Canada Model Code of Professional Conduct. The Code does not typically have special rules for special areas of practice, but family violence is not strictly a family law matter. Family violence can be an issue in immigration and refugee law, employment law, corporate law, criminal law, landlord-tenant law, and real estate law, to name a few.[1] When family violence is overlooked, the absence of recognition can perpetuate harm through the justice system. Family violence is . . . [more]