When people are dealing with a legal problem they often don’t approach a lawyer as their first step. Frequently, people go to a source they’re in closer contact with: frontline staff working in local community-based organizations.

Frontline workers are people working in settlement agencies, housing or health support, libraries, community centres, and in many other community services. They listen attentively, show empathy, and try their best to refer clients in the right direction. Frontline workers get to know their clients’ circumstances and their larger set of problems. In some cases, they share languages and cultural backgrounds with their clients. Their . . . [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. Dunsmuir v. New Brunswick, 2008 SCC 9

[1] This appeal calls on the Court to consider, once again, the troubling question of the approach to be taken in judicial review of decisions of administrative tribunals. The recent history of judicial review in Canada has been marked by ebbs and flows of deference, confounding tests and new words for old problems, but . . . [more]

With Supreme Court Judge of the United States Anthony Kennedy announcing his retirement, there are a host of potential nominees. Included in this list is Justice Don Willet of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. ABC News contends that some people are taking issue with his potential nomination because of his use of social media. It has been argued that social media use can reveal biases and detract from the perceived impartiality of the bench.

However, ABC News notes that “Legal scholars say there’s no legal provision prohibiting Supreme Court justices from sharing their opinions online or in speeches. The . . . [more]

A short note of congratulations to our Slaw colleague Malcolm Mercer who was elected June 28th as Treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario.

If you’re reading Slaw from within the province of Ontario, you’ll recognize Malcolm. His even-handed voice and leadership on issues impacting the profession are widely visible and respected among his peers. A long time Partner at McCarthy Tétrault, Malcolm was first elected Bencher back in 2011 and then re-elected in 2015. He has led or served on numerous LSO Committees, Task Forces and Working Groups throughout his career; and has amassed a number of well deserved . . . [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 research, writing, and practice.

Research & Writing

Stay Current With the Canadian Law Blogs List
Alan Kilpatrick

Would you like to stay informed about Canadian legal news? It is essential for members of the legal profession to stay current with new developments in the legal field. However, this can be challenging. The multitude of blogs, websites, and information resources available online can make the task of staying up-to-date seem overwhelming. …

Practice

Taking Responsibility . . . [more]

In Canada we allow lawyers to have sex with their clients. Or, to be precise: we do not prohibit lawyers from having sex with their clients.

Canadian law societies do regulate lawyer-client sex in a limited way. Almost all law societies prohibit sexual harassment.[1] And most law societies also identify lawyer-client sex as potentially creating conflicts of interest. They identify sexual relationships with clients as the sort of thing that may “conflict with the lawyer’s duty to provide objective, disinterested professional advice to the client” and which may “permit exploitation of the client” (FLS Model Code Rule 3.4-1, Commentary . . . [more]

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Global Workplace Insider 2. Barry Sookman 3. Avoid a Claim 4. Canadian Combat Sports Law Blog 5. Alcohol & Advocacy

Global Workplace Insider
National Minimum Wage Exemptions: employers to heave a sigh of relief

On 30 May 2018, the Minimum Wage Bill (the Bill) was . . . [more]

Although it may seem as an inconsistency, the Attorney General in Ontario need not be an attorney in that jurisdiction.

With the announcement of Caroline Mulroney as the AG in Ontario this week, this possibility is now a reality. Ms. Mulroney holds an American law degree and was licensed in New York State, but is not a licensee in Ontario.

The validity of a lawyer functioning in this role was resolved several years ago in Askin v. Law Society of British Columbia, which Adam Dodek summarized on Slaw here, where the court held,

[27] To conclude that only persons entitled

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.

BIENS ET PROPRIÉTÉ : À la lumière de la jurisprudence, les parties à un recours pour trouble de voisinage n’ont pas à être des voisins contigus et le voisinage peut même être assez étendu; en l’espèce, les entreprises appelantes et les intimés, dont les immeubles respectifs se trouvent à environ . . . [more]

I married my wife in 1954. She confirms that over the 64 years of our marriage I have generally been an optimist about human progress. I am also an optimist about human progress in the future.

Steven Pinker in his book, Enlightenment Now (2018), argues that since the 18th century the ideas of the Enlightenment have resulted in significant human progress. The ideas are reason, science and humanism. Some areas of human progress include health, wealth, life expectancy, education, knowledge, expansion of the voting franchise, reduction of violent crimes and wars, elimination of child labor, reduction of severe punishments, and . . . [more]

Each Thursday we present a significant excerpt, usually from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

Law School as Social Innovation

Lorne Sossin, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
(2017) 48 Victoria University of Wellington Law Review 225-236

[Footnotes omitted. They can be found in the original via the link above]

I. INTRODUCTION

In July of 2016, I had the good fortune to spend an eventful week . . . [more]

Everyone “gives back” in different ways. One of the ways I have tried to give back over the years is to serve on various Boards of Directors. Yesterday was my last day as a member of the Board of the BC Courthouse Library Society (CLBC). I leave with immense gratitude to CLBC, its board members and staff, realizing that whatever I was able to contribute to CLBC was eclipsed by the benefits that I gained in learning, expertise and experience.

One of the reasons I agreed to join the CLBC board was a chance to work with, and learn from, . . . [more]