Perhaps it didn’t make as many waves in the rest of the country, but the Quebec legal community has been buzzing about a report on the employment situation among young lawyers in Quebec published by the Young Bar Association of Montreal (YBAM) earlier this year. This organization, which represents close to 5,000 members, compiled impressive amounts of data to establish trends about young lawyers’ job prospects.

Essentially, things are bad for young lawyers in Montreal and they are getting worse. The issue has now made its way into mainstream media, with La Presse running a few articles last week about . . . [more]

What do Ukraine and Uganda have in common, besides the U at the beginning of their name? An elaborate justice needs and satisfaction survey was just done in both countries. The Ukraine results were presented on 1 March. The Uganda results on 14 April.

First, some observations to put this in a wider context.

I hope such surveys are a trend. They should be. The UN has announced that it will hold its first ministerial meeting in July to review progress regarding implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are, of course, mostly interested in Justice Goal 16. . . . [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.

Following Digital Media into the Courtroom: Publicity and the Open Court Principle in the Information Age
(2015) 24 Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies 101

Shauna Hall-Coates
Shauna Hall-Coates completed a combined JD/MLIS from Dalhousie University in 2015, and will be called to the Nova Scotia Bar in June 2016.

Excerpt: Abstract, Introduction, and . . . [more]

No, I am not going to comment on the amazing circus our U.S. presidential election has become. I want to bring you up to date on the Law Library of Congress’s latest news and their continuing progress in providing free U.S. government information to the world.

David Mao, former Law Librarian of Congress, is still the Acting Librarian of Congress. But Carla Hayden, CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore Maryland, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to become the first African American and first woman to hold this position. I hope that the U.S. Senate will . . . [more]

I like the Federation of Law Societies’ Model Code of Conduct. It’s not perfect. But it represents the culmination of considerable effort and reflection by intelligent and thoughtful lawyers. It provides meaningful guidance on a number of issues that lawyers face, particularly in relation to conflicts of interest. It provides a vehicle for national discussion and for work on emerging issues and on areas requiring reform. The Federation has done some truly great things with the Code, such as having a Standing Committee to update and revise the Code on an ongoing basis, and creating an interactive website . . . [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. Malton v Attia, 2016 ABCA 130

[83] In this case, the numerous unjustified criticisms of and adverse findings against the appellants and their counsel, already discussed in these reasons, raise a concern that the trial judge was predisposed against the appellants. Taken individually, the various adverse findings and criticisms would not be able to withstand appellate review, but they would not . . . [more]

Disaggregate verb. used without object. Meaning: to separate into component parts. Synonyms: ventilate, distill, itemize, breakdown, subdivide.

An April 25 press release from ICLR (The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales) reported:

[ICLR] has started the process of disaggregating its law reports from the online services operated by LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. Subscribers to these services based elsewhere in the world will not be affected. The process of removing ICLR content from these providers will take effect on 1 January 2017. Thereafter, the ICLR – the publisher of

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

Subscribe to Government & Court Press Releases
Bronwyn Guiton

Press releases are a good source of free current awareness alerts and a legitimate resource for understanding the intent of new legislation. I’m sharing a few of my favourite sources for timely and helpful press releases today. I’m a BC law librarian so I use these three sources often. Please share your own favourite sources for . . . [more]

Everything that can be thought at all can be thought clearly. Everything that can be said can be said clearly.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of style.

Matthew Arnold

Decision makers have to focus on the substance of the dispute before them and do the important and sometimes difficult work of coming to the right decision. But after that, it remains for them to write the decision clearly and concisely. This is where style in writing takes on such a critical role. If the people reading . . . [more]

This article is by Nora Rock, corporate writer & policy analyst at LAWPRO.

Think you have the confidence to bluff your way through a file that’s outside your normal scope of practice? It might work if you were playing a lawyer on TV… but that’s only because your opponent (and the judge, if it’s a litigation file) would be actors, too. In the real world, trying to “fake it to make it” in an unfamiliar area of law is unfair to the client, dangerous to the lawyer’s reputation, and risks a potential legal malpractice claim.

In a challenging economy, many . . . [more]

On March 31^st, the Canadian Competition Bureau released new Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines (IPEGs). These guidelines directed to explain the Bureau’s approach to enforcing competition law with respect to intellectual property, particularly patents.

Patents are an exclusionary right; the owner has the right to exclude others from practicing the claimed invention (see Section 42 of the Patent Act) as an incentive for innovation and new technology. This exclusivity can, in some circumstances, run counter to the goals of competition law to maintain vigorous rivalry among firms. The courts have looked to “something more” than merely exercising or . . . [more]

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from seventy 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. Welcome to the Food Court  2. Labour Pains 3. Rule of Law  4. The Factum  5. Legal Feeds

Welcome to the Food Court
Welcome to the Food Court Cited in Globe and Mail Article on the Practice of Tipping

Welcome to the Food Court Episode 5: Ryan Donovan was . . . [more]