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.

Commissions of Inquiry. By Hon. Stephen Goudge & Heather MacIvor. Toronto: LexisNexis, 2019. xvi, 510 p. Includes appendices and index. ISBN 9780433503118 (softcover) $120.00.

Reviewed by Paul F. McKenna
Lecturer, School of Information Management
Dalhousie University
In CLLR 45:3

This comprehensive work deals with all things related to the concept, characteristics, . . . [more]

“The competition that kills you may not look like you”. – Richard Susskind

In “Law is Not Ready for Amazon. Is Amazon Ready for Law?”, Mark Cohen writes that Amazon will continue to encroach on the legal market. The legal market meets Amazon’s three criteria for disrupting an industry. Amazon’s three criteria that must be met include: “(1) an original approach that does not mimic existing models; (2) scalability; and (3) potential for significant return on investment.”

Currently, legal providers are fragmented. There is no Goliath. And today’s leading legal providers focus on high-end clientele, and ignore a . . . [more]

Since April, we have been calling for justice leaders of the world to get out of their national cubby holes and come together to share fears, failures, successes, and strategies, just like public health minister are doing. The COVID-19 crisis is too big and too unprecedented to deal with on your own national level. On 20 October, 22 ministers of justice did just that at the Justice for All in a Global Emergency meeting convened by Minister of Justice of Canada, David Lametti (see end for participants). It was a significant moment. For 90 minutes, they shared their experiences in . . . [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. Attorney General for Ontario v. Persons Unknown, 2020 ONSC 6974 (CanLII)

[76] In my view, the “Persons Unknown” format does not allow the Attorney General to seek ex parte interpretations of laws to restrict unnamed respondents from suing others in future. Neither is it appropriate for the Attorney General to seek this court’s legal opinion on a hypothetical question of interpretation. . . . [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

Bad Business Jargon: The Continuing Saga
Neil Guthrie

Yet more. Above-captioned: This is a truly awful way to describe anything. Substitute this or a concise description of the subject of your e-mail or letter and it will read oh, so much better. Action item: Plain old task will do nicely, thank you. …

Practice

Trauma-Informed Lawyering: The Education You Didn’t Know You Needed
Emma Durand-Wood

What . . . [more]

In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic changed our legal world the way no one could have imagined. Our courthouse went from a beehive of litigation activities to a silent graveyard. Practice directives containing emergency measures were issued and activated to deal with the change. Our civil litigation system that historically relied on an in-person process to undertake almost every task – from the filling and service of litigation documents to routine chambers applications and trials – suddenly moved to the online world built on technologies.

The legal profession was forced to adopt technologies to address administration and litigation needs at . . . [more]

Following the Court’s decisions in Pointes/Platnick, anti-SLAPP motions continue to be brought in defamation actions. These decisions will continue to build and refine test created by the Court, and how it can be applied.

One particular aspect is determining what exactly is in the public interest for the purpose of s. 137.1(4)(b), which is the main focus of analysis after the Court’s decision. A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Sokoloff v. Tru-Path Occupational Therapy Services Ltd. helps expound on this issue.

The action emerged from a dispute between a well-known lawyer in Toronto, and a the President . . . [more]

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 as well as leaves to appeal granted so you will know what the SCC will soon be dealing with (October 10 – November 20, 2020 inclusive).

Oral Judgments

Criminal Law: Jury Challenges
R. v. Chouhan, 2020 ONCA 40; 2020 SCC (39062)

The Chief Justice: “A majority of the Court is of the view . . . [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.

ACTION COLLECTIVE (RECOURS COLLECTIF) : Tant que le jugement de clôture n’est pas rendu, les avocats mis en cause dans le dossier, qu’ils soient en demande ou en défense, restent investis d’obligations envers le processus judiciaire; ils doivent notamment veiller à l’exécution fidèle et diligente de la transaction approuvée par . . . [more]

Authors’ note: U.S. trade policy may well be affected by the results of the November 3^rd election, which this column was written prior to. 

In February 2020,[1] we took note of the first adopted WTO dispute settlement panel to interpret the GATT 1994 Article XXI national security exception: Russia – Traffic in Transit.[2] Now in Saudi Arabia – Measures Concerning the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (“Saudi – IP”),[3] we have a second panel that deals with the defence.

Addressing a complaint by Qatar, the Panel found that it had established a prima facie case that the Kingdom . . . [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:

• Legal Content Developer (Full-time) | Toronto, ON
  (CLEO – Community Legal Education Ontario)
• Indigenous Law and Indigenous Outreach Librarian (Full-time) | Victoria, BC
  (University of Victoria)
• Library Statistics Analyst (Contract role) | Ontario
  (Legal Information and Resource Network [LIRN])
• Paralegal

In April 2018, Minassian drove a van into a crowd of people, killing 10 people. His trial is now happening in Ontario by videoconference. The defence is arguing that he is not criminally responsible on account of his autism spectrum disorder. They are arguing that he did not understand what he was doing was wrong. Expert psychiatrists have been retained to provide opinions on both sides.

Each person with Autism spectrum disorder is unique. To learn more about the characteristics, see here.

Autism Canada released a statement denouncing the defence. “There is no psychosis in ASD and no tendency . . . [more]