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 research, writing, and practice.

Research & Writing

Confusing Pairs, Part 5
Neil Guthrie

More in this series. Dependant, dependent. The first is a noun, most commonly used to mean ‘a person who depends on another for support or position’ (He is a single man with no dependants). Dependent is the adjectival form of the noun (Each dependent child will receive …

Technology

Use Canva for Easy, Eye-Catching (And Free) Infographics
Emma Durand-Wood

You stare . . . [more]

Bitcoins are digital currency – and yes, lawyers are beginning to accept them from clients. They are also known as virtual currency or cryptocurrency since cryptography is used to control the creation and transfer of bitcoins. They use peer-to-peer technology with no central authority or banks. The issuance of bitcoins and the managing of transactions are carried out collectively by the network

Cryptocurrencies are created by a process called mining – by becoming a miner of cryptocurrencies, you make money (not much unless you are a major league miner). We won’t go into all of the technology that is used . . . [more]

On May 24, 2018, the Law Society of Ontario released a consultation paper to launch the second phase of its comprehensive analysis of the lawyer licensing process. Developed by the Professional Development and Competence Committee, the document outlines possible options for a long-term appropriate and sustainable licensing system for lawyer licensing candidates in Ontario.

The consultation paper follows last year’s Dialogue on Licensing, which looked at the realities, challenges and opportunities of lawyer licensing in the province. Throughout the Dialogue, the Law Society heard a wide range of views from lawyers, licensing candidates, law students, academics and legal organizations, highlighting . . . [more]

With a smartphone in every pocket, and easy access to the law in every home, when does independent research by a juror become sufficient for a mistrial? The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently explored this issue during a personal injury trial in Patterson v. Peladeau, where Justice Hackland dismissed the motion for mistrial.

At issue for the mistrial motion was an unusual jury question on the first day of deliberations. The content of the note inferred that the jury had been discussing the liability issue at trial, but in an context of a statutory reference that was not at . . . [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 : L’intérêt supérieur de l’enfant en cause requerrait que la loi permette la reconnaissance de sa réalité, soit que, sur le plan émotionnel et socio-économique, elle a effectivement toujours eu 3 parents; cependant, l’état actuel du droit, qui se limite à la biparentalité, rend nécessaire de déterminer qui, outre . . . [more]

Cannabis aficionados can start making their travel plans now after the Ontario government has officially opened the province’s doors for cannabis tourism.

In late April, the provincial government quietly drafted and filed Ontario Regulation 325/18 made under the Provincial Cannabis Act, 2017. No public announcement was made after the Regulation was filed, and its existence for most people did not come to light until recently when it was printed in the Ontario Gazette on May 12, 2018.

Although short (only 9 sections), the Regulation is an important one as it deals with restrictions and exemptions on places of cannabis . . . [more]

Canada’s Anti-Spam legislation (CASL) is a complex, onerous and ambiguous legislative system. The ambiguities were identified in a constitutional challenge that the CRTC acknowledged but ruled did not go to the point of undermining the legislative regime. Parliament’s 5 year review obtained considerable consultation identifying numerous compliance issues arising from the uncertainties that the law creates. The Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology report did identify a number of items where clarification would reduce the uncertainty with respect to the interpretation of many of the law’s provisions, as well as to avoid overly burdensome costs of compliance The government . . . [more]

On May 9, 2018, the Quebec government published its criteria for reasonable accommodation under an Act to foster adherence to State religious neutrality and, in particular, to provide a framework for requests for accommodations on religious grounds in certain bodies (the Act, previously Bill 62) that requires among other things, Quebecers to leave their faces uncovered in order to provide or receive public services.

Under the Act, employees and members of public bodies and certain other bodies, as well as elected persons, must exercise their functions with their face uncovered. In addition, persons who request a service from one of . . . [more]

Some in-depth investigative journalism is needed because there has been a further danger-augmenting development in regard to the creation of National Standards of Canada (NSCs) as that behavior relates to the federal government’s high profile, Budget 2017 declaration of the creation of Innovation Canada. Its Fact Sheet, Skills, Innovation and Middle Class Jobs, states inter alia, “Budget 2017’s Innovation and Skills Plan advances an agenda to make Canada a world-leading centre for innovation, to help create more good, well-paying jobs, and help strengthen and grow the middle class.”

I say “further development,” because I described that behavior . . . [more]

In the not too distant future…

“Hey Google, order me a pizza – the usual, but a large this time, and have it delivered.”

Google Duplex calls pizza place. Pizza place AI bot answers the phone. The bots talk to each other.

Robots make the pizza.

Pizza is loaded into an autonomous vehicle containing a pizza oven that cooks it on the way to me.

Autonomous vehicle texts me when 2 minutes away.

I meet it at the curb. It authenticates me using voice or facial recognition and gives me the pizza. . . . [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. Patterson v. Peladeau, 2018 ONSC 2625

[2] On the weekend just after the jury began to deliberate, juror #1, while at his home engaged in some internet legal research. He found a regulation under the Insurance Act, known as the Fault Determination Rules. On Monday morning he discussed this regulation with the other jurors, which resulted in a jury . . . [more]