Alberta political Insiders could not have been surprised by Ethics Commissioner Trussler’s decision last Friday finding Jason Kenney’s use of the “Premier” prefix for UCP fundraising correspondence not to be a conflict of interest. That’s because Trussler previously determined in similar cases involving previous Premiers that the use of public office for partisan purposes is beyond the scope of her legislated mandate.

Conflict of interest allegations were levelled by opposition parties against Premier Prentice in 2014, for staging political announcements in ridings with upcoming by-elections, and again in 2015 when Premier Notley attended a political fundraising dinner in Toronto. In . . . [more]

The court system is designed by lawyers for lawyers for a bygone era. As technology develops and the numbers of self-represented litigants increase, the design flaws in our paper based court system becomes more apparent.

Recently, the Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Honourable Heather Smith addressed this issue with the Toronto Star. Justice Smith stated that “there really is no difference walking into a courtroom at 361 University Ave than there was 40 years ago.” Justice Smith further adds that the way paper moves through the court system is madness. “Even digital files . . . [more]

“Competitive markets are not much fun for sellers” – Richard Posner

It’s common knowledge that the billable hour is holding back the profession. Additionally, it’s clear that professional conduct rules insulate lawyers, prevent other professionals from getting involved, and stifle innovation. Yet, despite the billable hour still going strong and no changes in professional conduct rules, we are seeing an unprecedented boom in innovative legal services. It feels like something bigger must be going on.

Market cycles

While the literal number of lawyers remains a significant factor, more important is its ratio to finance, insurance, and real estate (“FIRE”) . . . [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

Who said it?
Susannah Tredwell

This doesn’t exactly count as legal research, but I periodically get asked for to confirm that a given person was the source of a quote. …

Practice

Go to live events
Sandra Bekhor

Technology has made life better in oh so many ways. Today, we can even make new connections with colleagues and clients, without leaving the comfort of our home . . . [more]

When both government and intelligence agencies note that white supremacy is the greatest threat facing Canada today, it’s important to look for signs of these movements, and their symbols.

One of those most obvious symbols to many people would be the swastika, given its association with the Nazi movement in Germany, and hate groups invoking their doctrine worldwide since WWII. Although this is a symbol that is indeed used by many of these groups, they also use many other symbols to hide or obscure their ideology. The swastika itself dates back thousands of years, especially in South Asia, and was . . . [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 (May 11 – June 20, 2019 inclusive).

Oral Judgments

Corporate Law: Fraud; Knowing Participation/Assistance
Christine DeJong Medicine Professional Corp. v. DBDC Spadina Ltd., 2018 ONCA 60; 2019 SCC 30 (38051)

Brown J.: “… the . . . [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) : Michel Cadotte, déclaré coupable par un jury de l’homicide involontaire de sa conjointe, atteinte de la maladie d’Alzheimer, est condamné à une peine d’emprisonnement de 2 ans et 204 jours, réduite à 2 ans moins 1 jour afin de tenir compte du temps passé en détention préventive, . . . [more]

An acquaintance of mine recently accused me of being an “expert” on administrative law now that I have been regularly writing on the topic. His choice of words, not mine. Correct or not, I took it as a complement. Then, based upon his misguided belief, he put an interesting question to me, which provided with some inspiration for this article.

The question related to an unspecified administrative tribunal with no statutory appeal provision and no statutory reconsideration provision. Apparently, the tribunal discovered that it had made a demonstrable and embarrassing denial of natural justice, failing to invite submissions on a . . . [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 (newest first):

• Deputy Director, National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) (Full-time) | Ottawa, ON
  (Federation of Law Societies of Canada)

In preparation for the September 1, 2019, coming into force date of the amendments to Part III (Labour Standards) of the Canada Labour Code, the federal government registered in the Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 153, Number 12, on June 3, 2019, the consequential amendments to the Canada Labour Standards Regulations. This is intended to align the Regulations with the new and amended Canada Labour Code provisions and to support their implementation. Additional housekeeping amendments are also needed to address other editorial and alignment issues. . . . [more]

(I’m very pleased to welcome Antoine Dusséaux from Doctrine as a guest contributor on this post. You can read more about and from Antoine below.)

Given my job (CEO at CanLII – saved you a click ) and law degree from a civil law program, I often get to talk about the differences between legal information in Québec compared to the rest of Canada.

I was an intellectual property (IP) lawyer before joining CanLII and although I wasn’t a litigator per se, I was routinely involved in IP cases before the Federal Court. Before that, I did a bit of . . . [more]