I’m spending this summer by the shore of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But I did go back to Washington, DC for the 112^th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), held from July 13 to 16. Despite the usual hot and humid weather, the meeting was well attended and quite stimulating.

I spent a considerable amount of time in the Exhibit Hall, meeting vendor friends and colleagues and catching up on the latest updates. The news that might be of the most interest to you is that access to the Indigenous Law Portal, which was . . . [more]

Prior to Ontario’s most recent provincial election, I didn’t know much about Pro Bono Ontario (“PBO”), a registered charity since 2001 which serves just under 30,000 clients each year from 11 locations. I wasn’t a litigator, and my clients were large corporations, not regular, everyday Canadians, so it wasn’t part of my world. But earlier this year, PBO gave a most impressive presentation to the Legal Innovators Roundtable describing how it was achieving maximum impact with a modest budget through its Free Legal Advice Hotline, using a thoughtful blend of volunteers as well as old and new technology. It sounded . . . [more]

In British Columbia, the Legal Services Society has launched a free, online service called “The Family Resolution Centre”. It is part of My Law BC (delivered by legal aid provider Legal Services Society).

The Family Resolution Centre program of My Law BC helps separated couples create parenting plans online. The parenting plans deal with parenting time, vacations, and other childcare needs. Alternatively, couples can request up to five hours of free assistance from a mediator. It is the first service of its kind in Canada. It can be accessed from mylawbc.com under “Mediation Tool”.

Tools like the Family . . . [more]

At CanLII, we are working to create a new model for legal publishing, and we want to work with people who see the potential for open legal commentary. We have successfully built a collection of over 63,000 books, articles, reports, case summaries, and commentaries, and are always developing new tools to meet the needs of Canadians.

This year, we are grateful to have received a grant from the Law Foundation of British Columbia to create a publicly accessible litigation manual for British Columbians, and we are searching for an editor and a team of writers to contribute to the . . . [more]

I read a Linkedin posting by lawyer and consultant, Simon Haigh, asking “Which book is in you?”, perhaps the correct assumption being that many in and around the legal profession, inter alia, have, deep within them, a desire to commit their experience and expertise to the written word. A reaction from some at this point will be that nobody writes or reads books any more, nor should they. Indeed, published articles have seen one commentator’s headline pronounce that “lawyers should stop doing legal research”, while another’s boasts “Hire me. I won’t work hard for you”; . . . [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. R v Lewis, 2019 ABCA 311

[8] There is a unique wrinkle in this case which rather diminishes its deployment as a case precedent in the future. At trial, Crown counsel conceded that a breach of the appellant’s s 8 Charter right had occurred during the investigation of this case. This concession seemed intended to be an admission of both fact . . . [more]

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue the UK Parliament last week reminded us of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s twice-proroguing of the Canadian Parliament in the space of about a year. It is, say supporters, just like any other quite regular prorogations; not so, say opponents, they undermine the nation’s constitutional structure. What makes the difference? The reason, the motivations, for the disruption of the parliamentary sitting in each case. What can be done about unconstitutional proroguing of Parliament? I discuss three responses. . . . [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

Confusing Pairs Redux
Neil Guthrie

Broach/brooch: You broach a subject when you raise it with someone: The partner broached the issue of missed deadlines with the hapless associate. A brooch is a piece of jewellery typically pinned to the upper breast: The Queen always wears a large diamond brooch on her coat or dress, but her ancestor James I preferred to pin one to his hat. . . . [more]

By all accounts, last week’s Ethics Commissioner Report on the SNC-Lavalin controversy was a bombshell, condemning as it did Mr. Trudeau’s improper attempts to infringe the prosecutorial independence of the Attorney-General’s office.

But other than revealing the extraordinary access of SNC-Lavalin to the highest ranks of government and the magnitude of the combined efforts to obtain a deferred prosecution agreement that would dismiss foreign corruption charges against the company, we learned very little we did not know before.

Indeed, the most striking part of Mr. Dion’s report is that he was denied access to important information that would bring all . . . [more]

Utilizing of the media, including social media, is an essential aspect of any civil litigator’s strategic arsenal. The Model Code of Professional Conduct outlines in Rule 7.5 the circumstances where a lawyer can communicate information to the media, which includes obligations to the client, the profession, the courts, or the administration of justice.

These communications must still be in the best interest of the client, and conducted in a professional manner. They should also not communicate any information that has a “substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing a party’s right to a fair trial or hearing.”

Communications with the media should . . . [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 : La filiation par procréation assistée en faveur de deux mères, selon les termes de l’article 539.1 C.C.Q., permet au père biologique de s’engager dans la vie de l’enfant même s’il n’est pas le père au sens de la loi, tout en laissant intact le projet parental des conjointes; . . . [more]