Back in mid-August, the UK’s Legal Futures website took note that Edward Hands & Lewis, a Leicester-based law firm with 15 branches, was planning to launch a national network of franchised offices next year. I wish EHL every success with this undertaking, as I’ve wished good fortune to similar efforts over the past several years (and I continue to think that Canada’s Axess Law is closer than anyone to that goal).

But the fact that I first wrote about the franchised future of small law firms almost six years ago suggests that we need a lot more than good fortune . . . [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. Fearon, 2014 SCC 77

[1] The police have a common law power to search incident to a lawful arrest. Does this power permit the search of cell phones and similar devices found on the suspect? That is the main question raised by this appeal.

[2] Canadian courts have so far not provided a consistent answer. At least four approaches . . . [more]

The distinction between what constitutes “legal information” versus “legal advice” has always been a source of confusion and substantial anxiety for legal practitioners and service providers. Given the importance of the distinction and its implications vis-à-vis the authorized practice of law, it is shocking that the term “legal information” is nowhere defined in any of the relevant statutes or regulations governing the provision of legal services. Across the provinces, the governing regulation tends to focus on defining “legal advice,” “legal services,” or “practice of law” without providing an accompanying definition for “legal information” as a point of contrast. That being . . . [more]

Several years ago, a Canadian attorney and good friend of ours, invested $10,000 in bitcoin. Clearly, he is a lot smarter than us. We can’t even imagine the extent of his profit – several days before we started to write this article, bitcoin hit an all-time high of $4,991.66 on September 2, 2017. It is down slightly as we write, but our friend certainly hit a jackpot.

We become aware of bitcoin wallets a few years ago, as husbands (mostly) began to hide assets from their soon-to-be ex-wives in those wallets. And then came a barrage of ransomware attacks. Law . . . [more]

We’ve made great advances in recent years in Canada in examining mental health in the legal profession, and prior, in law school.

In large part this can be attributed to Orlando da Silva, former President of the Ontario Bar Association, who used his term as the head of the largest legal organization in Ontario to bring attention to his own personal plights. Da Silva was awarded the Law Society Medal last year for these contributions.

Similar conversations are occurring south of the border as well. One of the most prominent ones is a new series on Above the Law called . . . [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) : La jurisprudence canadienne reconnaît que la présomption de conformité des actes de l’Administration peut trouver application dans le contexte d’un procès portant sur une infraction de type statutaire ou réglementaire en matière de sécurité routière.

Intitulé : Directrice des poursuites criminelles et pénales c. Watters, 2017 QCCA . . . [more]

One Sunday each month OnPoint Legal Research provides Slaw with an extended summary of, and counsel’s commentary on, an important case from the British Columbia, Alberta, or Ontario court of appeal.

Victory Motors (Abbotsford) Ltd. v. Assessor of Area No. 15 – Fraser Valley, 2017 BCCA 295

AREAS OF LAW:   Property assessment; Contamination; Value to owner; Market value

~ In assessing the value of a property, when there is no commercial market for it but it has value to its owner, that owner can serve as a proxy for a competitive market. ~

BACKGROUND:

The Respondent, Victory Motors (Abbotsford) Ltd., . . . [more]

In Part One I explained why proper succession planning is so important. I also touched on why senior partners might be reluctant to retire, and offered advice on how to overcome this hesitancy. In that post I also provided a broader view on the definition of succession, suggesting it be considered more of an evolutionary process than an act in a point of time.

I suggested that strong business management is managing through constant change, and that this change should be actively managed in a law firm at three levels: the Partnership (and eventual transfer of ownership); practice groups, and . . . [more]

Over the summer months, the Law Society of Upper Canada has been conducting a Dialogue on Licensing to prompt information sharing, discussion, input and reflection on the future of the requirements for licensing of lawyers in Ontario. Based on materials disseminated as part of the Dialogue, a series of discussion sessions were held and summary reports released. Submissions were also invited through a broad call open into August. According to a late June update, the Professional Development and Competence Committee (PDCC) of the LSUC will spend the remainder of 2017 reviewing the input, with a view to producing . . . [more]

I just signed up to attend the fall IT-Can conference, and thought the conference was worth mentioning. It is a consistent high quality conference for lawyers practicing in the IT/IP fields, and for others such as CIO’s.

Topics this year include fintech, quantum computing, blockchain and smart contracts, connected vehicles, big data, health care tech, cybersecurity, and control over online content.

Perhaps I’ll see you there in Toronto on Oct 23. . . . [more]