You can’t talk about legal technology without talking about, and to, lawyers. Also vodka. Kidding.

Anyone who has spent more than an hour trying to get lawyers to use pretty much anything other than Word and Outlook will know that adoption is a Sisyphean task. Lawyers have a general negative reaction to anything you show them. They expect perfection and ease of use, and hate any disruption to their normal (though admittedly imperfect) workflow.

I don’t pretend I’m a change expert (except on my resume, obviously), but I have had some success in (1) convincing lawyers to just try the . . . [more]

On March 22, 2018, the Quebec government introduced Bill 174: An Act mainly to relax the parental insurance plan to promote better family-work balance. If enacted, this Act comes into force on the date of assent, except section 12, which comes into force on the date to be set by the Government.

The main changes in the Bill include:

1. Maternity benefits

• Increase the period, currently 18 weeks, to 25 weeks, within which maternity benefits can be provided following the birth of a child.
• Increase the number of weeks of maternity benefits for a multiple pregnancy. In the event of

It’s easy to define your ideal client—someone who needs your services and pays their bills, right? When you’re building your practice, that’s a good place to start. Any client looks like an ideal client at first, but after a few years in practice you begin to recognize the clients you want—and those you don’t. Better to have that recognition sooner rather than later, because then you can build the practice you want, rather than have it built for you by whoever comes in the door.

There are plenty of clients who need your services and pay their bills, but some . . . [more]

The Guardian reports us that the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is close to adopting a new authentication standard that can replace passwords. This would be some kind of “who you are” (biometric) or “what you have” (token, phone to receive code) method of authentication, rather than a “what you know” password. (I suppose a code sent to your phone is what you know, but you know it only case by case, because you have another communications channel.)

Some web services already work this way, as the article notes – or does in special cases, as when one is logging . . . [more]

A common issue for new technology is the application of existing laws that were created before the new tech was contemplated. Examples include fintech (financial applications), fitness and health applications, and ridesharing services (such as Uber).

What is the issue?

Some activities and services are highly regulated. Financial services and the taxi industry are good examples. New entrants create innovative applications and services that compete with incumbents, but may or may not be regulated the same.

In some areas the entity may be regulated rather than the activity (often the case in fintech).

Laws sometimes prescribe a specific solution, rather . . . [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. Chin v. The Law Society of Upper Canada, 2018 ONSC 2072

[2] On May 15, 2015, the Hearing Division of the Respondent Law Society of Upper Canada (the “Law Society”) found that the Appellant knowingly participated in mortgage fraud in respect of six residential real estate transactions. Her licence to practice law was revoked. The Hearing Tribunal found that maintaining public . . . [more]

Depending on your age and preferred cultural touchstones, the title of this column is ether instantly recognizable or a complete mystery. If it’s the latter, the video below, excerpted from a 1998 episode of South Park, should shed some light.

The underwear gnomes’ profit strategy has become a widely cited meme in the intervening years, owing to its effective illustration of the shortcomings of many strategic plans. The premise sounds interesting; the outcome sounds great; but the opaque middle step, whereby the interesting premise is somehow converted into bags of money through mysterious processes, is entirely glossed over.

I’ve . . . [more]

In the recent case of Heller v. Uber Technologies Inc., the Court dealt with a case in which Mr. Heller, an Uber food delivery driver, attempted to bring a class action on behalf of all Uber drivers against Uber. Mr. Heller sought a declaration from the Court that all of the drivers are employees of Uber and thereby entitled to the benefits of Ontario’s Employment Standards Act. Uber brought a motion to the Court to stop the action on the basis that any complaint by Mr. Heller would have to be dealt with by way of arbitration in . . . [more]

It is not just cellphone mascots who desire to be heard. Many people who have matters before administrative decision makers expect to be heard; often that expectation is that they will be able to make oral submissions. In my personal experience, I find that many people believe that they can present their case better orally than in writing. The reasons may vary: they might not believe themselves capable of presenting a strong written case; they might not have the level of schooling that makes it easy for them to make written presentations; there might be language issues; or they might . . . [more]

As announced in our October 17^th column, this is the second of a series of blogs highlighting the various papers, studies, and pilot projects conducted by the Cyberjustice Laboratory under the auspices of the “Towards Cyberjustice” Project. Funded by a Major Collaborative Research Grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, this seven-year long project has finally drawn to a close and will be the subject of a detailed report to be released later this year. In anticipation of this upcoming report, its first chapter – entitled “A Tale of Cyberjustice” – will be . . . [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. O’Faolain 2. Eva Chan 3. The Lean Law Firm 4. Employment & Human Rights Law in Canada 5. SOQUIJ | Le Blogue

O’Faolain
Talk Like a Lawyer

People who have been through law school know how to think like lawyers. I was thinking about advice I’d give . . . [more]