The importance of privacy in our technologically driven society can never be overrated, but even then there are limits to the extent to which a free and democratic society can and should protect privacy interests.

The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FIPPA”) received royal assent in 1987, coming into force in 1988. The Act was the result of the NDP conditional support of the Liberal minority government that would create new freedom of information and privacy protections, based on the 1980 report, Public government for private people : the report of the Commission on Freedom . . . [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.

TRAVAIL : Même si l’entrevue d’embauche officielle n’était pas commencée, la représentante de l’employeur ne devait pas poser de question sur l’origine ethnique du nom du plaignant; il s’agit d’une question discriminatoire au sens des articles 18.1 et 10 de la Charte des droits et libertés de la personne. . . . [more]

I am one of a growing number of Canadians who find winters difficult. I don’t enjoy outdoor activities in the snow, I don’t like being cold, and the lessened daylight leaves me wanting to wrap up in a blanket and wait for Spring to arrive. Throughout January, February and March I grit my teeth, turn on my light therapy lamp, pop my Vitamin D, and remind myself it will all be better when Spring arrives.

Well, it’s Spring now (or at least that’s what the calendar says… mother nature seems to be hitting the snooze button). We are still waiting . . . [more]

On April 12, 2018, the British Columbia government granted third reading to Bill 6, Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2018 to better support working families by providing new, extended and more flexible maternity, parental and compassionate care leaves. The Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent. Specifically, when enacted, the Bill will: . . . [more]

These days all sorts of things are connected to the Internet, even if they are not traditionally thought of as communications devices. We have looked at “devices” such as cars, pacemakers and dolls. We have looked at legal issues such as privacy, defamation and evidence.

The Internet of Things is a gift that keeps on giving … legal questions. Here are a few more examples of what can, and thus will, go wrong.

I. Alexa and the parrot:

Alexa is Amazon.com’s digital assistant. It responds to voice commands and voice inquiries. It will find out information, . . . [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. Jackson, 2018 ONSC 2527

[6] But, Mr. Jackson, this case is also about how the criminal justice system treats African Canadians. I have been asked to do something about changing the law. So I have had to think about this. I will apologize in advance, because this discussion will take some time. It will involve a lot of legal . . . [more]

Can I teach Legal Project Management in thirty seconds? Of course not.

But I can teach the single most important question a project manager must ask: What does success look like?

In the book that defined this field (titled, for some reason, Legal Project Management), I focused a critical chapter on the need to define “Done.” Having spent much of the past decade teaching lawyers around the world to manage their projects, I’ve come ‘round to a different – and I believe clearer – way to frame that definitional issue: What does success look like?

For a certain subset . . . [more]

Next year will be year 30 since I graduated from law school. It will also mark 15 years since I began teaching law. What is perhaps most remarkably similar about both experiences is how little curriculum design and teaching methods have changed over the course of this time. Sad to say (and even harder to admit) is that law school is often neither rigorous in its methods nor very engaging the content it offers.

The format of a typical course, from a student perspective, is to read through a punishing amount of turgid prose found in judicial decisions, passively listen . . . [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

Oh, With the Verbing!
Neil Guthrie

Professor Frink says this on The Simpsons, but don’t you do it. In simple terms, a verb is an action word. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be a good verb available to express a particular action, so it may make sense to adapt a noun or some other word. This is often fine, but often not. Herewith, some of the . . . [more]

I’ve been out of the loop for a little while and just happened on EVA the free AI-based legal research tool that ROSS Intelligence made available earlier this year. ROSS CEO Andrew Arruda characterizes this “AI system” as ROSS’ new coworker.

Robert Ambrogi blogged about EVA’s unveilling in late January calling it a “brief analyzer.” He expanded on this description:

“…it is also a tool for checking the subsequent history of cited cases and determining if they are still good law, … [and it] also can be used to find other cases that are similar to a given case

In 2016, the CBA hosted “The Pitch” in Ottawa, a showcase of legal innovation in Canada. The event was a natural extension of the CBA Futures Initiative, helping the organization take the lead for innovative change in law.

Winners and finalists in previous years have gone on to make further ripples in the legal industry. In 2016, Loom Analytics was voted the audience’s choice, and has gone into further development at Ryerson’s Legal Innovation Zone. Blue J Legal continued to develop a partnership with Thomson Reuters. The winner, Beagle, was a winner in the 2018 . . . [more]