Huh?

What place, you might reasonably ask, does this question have in a column on justice issues?

Bear with me. I’ll get there.

Slaw readers are more aware than the average legal professional about the roles of existing major legal information suppliers (let’s call them Dominos and Pizza Hut) and the efforts of upstarts to do law differently and offer tailored solutions to legal research needs. Though many believe (with some justification) that the pizza on offer from the “Big 2” is great, sometimes the pizza costs too much and sometimes what you need is a grilled cheese sandwich.

Here’s . . . [more]

If you’re at all interested in legal technology, you’ve probably grown tired of the recent influx of fear-mongering articles about “robot lawyers” that are going to put legal professionals out of a job. This sub-genre of legal tech reporting features a lot of buzzwords. There’s “machine learning”, “NLP (natural language processing)”, “AI (artificial intelligence)”, and “predictive analytics”, to name just a few. Regrettably, a lot of these articles discuss legal technologies only in very vague terms, or sometimes don’t bother with definitions at all. And it’s very difficult to have a nuanced conversation about legal tech when it seems like . . . [more]

Building and maintaining a precedents collection presents many challenges but the benefits of success are multiple. In my posting from last June, the architect of the Gowlings precedent collection, Graeme Coffin, outlined what the process is at his firm. But undertaking this initiative is one of the biggest challenges that any practitioner, whether practising solo or in a firm or working in-house, faces. I therefore propose to treat this topic in a series of postings so as to discuss the issues in some depth and offer some suggestions.

Benefits. The benefits of creating a good quality, comprehensive precedents collection . . . [more]

Google debuted new hardware on Tuesday – including new Pixel phones, and an Amazon Echo competitor called Google Home. A key thread to all this is their new Google Assistant replacement for Google Now. (Similar to Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana.)

But the most noteworthy part is their comment that we are switching from Mobile First to AI first. Over the past few years websites and online services have increasingly needed to be mobile friendly, so people can do what they want from whatever screen happens to be in front of them. Advances in artificial intelligence are going to put . . . [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. Law Society of Alberta v Beaver, 2016 ABCA 290

[12] On appeal before this Court, Beaver took no issue with certain factual underpinnings of the injunction, namely that apart from the agent issue, he had been practicing law in contravention of both his undertakings and the Act. However, Beaver reiterated that he was entitled to continue acting as an agent. In his . . . [more]

You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need
– Rolling Stones

I teach a negotiation course several times a year at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. I am always surprised at the number of students who come into the course thinking that being a successful negotiator is all about “winning” – getting what they want.

My hope is, by the end of the course, they have learned that truly successful negotiation is about finding a way for both (all) parties to get what they . . . [more]

In my last blog post, I discussed strategies for dealing with tough feedback you’ve received and the consequences of avoiding colleagues who deliver it.

But what if you’re the messenger? Providing criticism is an unavoidable aspect of leadership. Those who do it well build firm cultures where people feel safe to speak up and feel motivated to improve, all for the sake of their clients.

Before delivering the feedback… 

• Check your bias. We’re often drawn to evidence that confirms what we might already believe, such as a generalization about the employee’s age (e.g. boomers or millennials) or past

The Law Society of Upper Canada’s Professional Development and Competence Committee has released a report that recommends ending the Law Practice Program (LPP), an alternative pathway to licensing lawyers in Ontario, only two years into its pilot project term. The governing Benchers of the law society will vote on the committee’s recommendation on Nov. 9. Here are news articles about the situation from The Globe And Mail, The Lawyers Weekly, Law Times, and CBA National magazine.

The committee’s recommendation is incorrect and ill-advised, and the Benchers should reject it at their November 9th meeting. Here’s why.

1. . . . [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 and writing, practice, and technology.

Research & Writing

Words That Don’t Mean What You Think They Do
Neil Guthrie

Word: A priori
What it doesn’t mean: In advance
What it does mean: Based on theory rather than experiment …

Practice

Sweep the Sheds
Michael McCubbin

I am adopting a very expansive view of “practice tips” this week given some things that have been on my mind as I recently took on two new . . . [more]

This is a brief outline of an article that I have posted on the SSRN, using the same title (pdf download). Mobile phone (cellphone) evidence will be among the most frequently used electronically-produced evidence of location. How does a defendant produce “evidence to the contrary” for purposes of challenging its reliability? Rare and very difficult it will be that one might get access to the complex electronic systems involved, to search for such suspected “evidence to the contrary.”

A mobile phone can be located at the time of a particular call by finding the mobile phone tower that directed . . . [more]

This article is by Ian Hu, claims prevention and practicePRO counsel at LAWPRO.

A self-represented family law litigant anxiously prepares for a hearing, which can resolve months, if not years, of anxiety, and determine the litigant’s financial and family affairs in the near future. Retaining a lawyer from cradle to grave is out of budget for this litigant. What to do? Relief is around the corner – a lawyer steps in to help solely with the hearing, the result is fair, and the cost is affordable.

Success stories like this are playing out across the profession. The unbundling of legal . . . [more]

“To be legally aware is to be empowered.”

Lloyd England teaches law at the Monash University Faculty of Law and he is offering a 4 week “accessible introduction to the common law system.” The course starts today so head over to the website and register if you’re interested.

In the introductory video England asks: “Can you think of an area of your life that isn’t governed by law? I don’t think there are many. In fact, I don’t think there are any.”

It promises to be a great resource drawing on the expertise of a group . . . [more]