Over breakfast last week I was reading the recent issue of the UofT Magazine and saw a short article by Alec Scott talking about the right to health. Scott begins by pointing to one of the recommendations from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission asking governments “to recognize and implement the health-care rights of Aboriginal people as identified in international law and constitutional law, and under the Treaties.”

This article resonated in part because of the recent story about the Neskantaga First Nation community who have been living under a boil water advisory for twenty years. That was a . . . [more]

Almost all lawyers experience stress, but unless it becomes toxic, there is little risk to the client. Occasionally things get truly out of control. That’s when important deadlines are missed, communication with the client diminishes (or ends), and files languish. In extreme cases, the lawyer ‘pretends’ to practice by misrepresenting to the client that work has been done when it hasn’t been.
Valerie Edwards, experienced LAWPRO defence counsel, Torkin Manes LLP

With proper treatment and effective management, lawyers with mental or physical issues can and do thrive in legal practice. But left unchecked, unhealthy lawyers can put client files at . . . [more]

On one Sunday each month we bring you a summary from Supreme Advocacy LLP of recent decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Advocacy LLP offers a weekly electronic newsletter, Supreme Advocacy Letter, to which you may subscribe.

Summary of all appeals and leaves to appeal granted, so you know what the S.C.C. will soon be dealing with (September 11 – October 7, 2015 inclusive).

Appeals

Construction Law: Builder’s/Mechanic’s/Construction Liens
Stuart Olson Dominion Construction Ltd. v. Structal Heavy Steel, 2015 SCC 43 (35777)
Filing a lien does not affect a statutory trust; a lien bond secures a . . . [more]

Summaries of selected recent cases are provided each week to Slaw by Maritime Law Book. Every Sunday we present a precis of the latest summaries, a fuller version of which can be found on MLB-Slaw Selected Case Summaries at cases.slaw.ca.

This week’s summaries concern:
Criminal Law – Statutes – Indians, Inuit and Métis

R. v. A.A. 2015 ONCA 558
Criminal Law – Statutes
Summary: The accused and G.M.S. were both 16 when they began a relationship. G.M.S. danced in strip clubs, and gave the accused the money. The accused was arrested on more than a dozen charges arising . . . [more]

The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, Canada’s leading providing of continuing professional training for lawyers, and the Canadian Centre for Elder Law are hosting the Canadian Elder Law Conference on 12 and 13 November in 2015. The conference is open to anyone with an interest in the legal and other issues affecting Canada’s elder population, but will be of most interest to lawyers, financial planners and mental health professionals.

The conference is extremely timely, given Statistics Canada‘s recent report showing that there are now more Canadians who are older than 65 than those who are under . . . [more]

Limber up your ears, because here comes Brian from Melton with his Suffolk accent, not always intelligible to those who are strangers to the “south folk” who reside in the bottom of the big bump on the right side of England. But it’s worth the effort to understand Brian, because he’s funny. And he’s made even funnier by this delightful animation by Steve Kirby. It’ll blow you away.

Together, Brian and Steve tell the story to a phone-in radio show of Brian’s now 94 year old mother, Doris, who may well have predicted the 1987 hurricane when the BBC failed. . . . [more]

As Canada begins to settle in with the new “notice and notice” provisions under the Copyright Act (Canada) which came into force January 2, 2015 copyright owners in Canada still need to address infringing content posted on websites hosted in the United States.

Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., Nos. 13-16106, 13-16107, 2015 WL 5315388 (9^th Circuit Sept. 14, 2015) adds additional work by a copyright owner before they can use the US notice and takedown remedy.

Background

In the 1990s the debate was whether internet intermediaries, such as ISPs, should be liable for infringements made on their servers . . . [more]

The September 28, 2015 issue of The New Yorker has an article on Ralph Nader’s Tort Museum.

It is actually called the American Museum of Tort Law and it opened recently in Winsted, Connecticut.

The museum is the idea of the famous American consumer advocate and lawyer Ralph Nader who comes from there:

“Nader’s consumer-protection advocacy is the lifeblood of the museum. In the center of the museum sits a cherry-red Chevrolet Corvair, the car Nader disgraced in his 1965 book ‘Unsafe at Any Speed’.”(…)

“In an unfortunate irony for the museum, its building is located directly across the

The Alberta government is holding consultations on proposed legislation to protect essential public services while upholding public sector workers’ right to meaningful collective bargaining dispute resolution. . . . [more]

The concept of knowledge management can expand to encompass many things. Theoretically it includes influence over the social aspects of the organization, such as ways people relate to each other, as well as managing explicit information in the form of written information. Practically it is often carried out by staff in a particular department with varying degrees of influence, who may not be involved in the wider workings of the organization. This means that some of the most important ways people in an organization communicate and transfer knowledge are difficult for knowledge management staff to change.

Many knowledge management programs . . . [more]

I’ve seen complaints suggesting emails from those running in the federal election are spam. But CASL specifically exempts political emails from the definition of spam. A recent review of political emails by a mail service provider showed that they are not even trying to comply with the spirit of CASL – such as having unsubscribe mechanisms and contact information.

It’s never been clear to me why those making laws think they deserve to be exempted from many laws they think business need to follow. Perhaps if they applied more laws to themselves some laws might be a lot more user . . . [more]

Budgets have no bottoms. Promises know no bounds. No baby has gone un-kissed. It must be Federal election time in Canada.

With political pandering at a fever pitch and politicians tripping over themselves to promise the earth, moon and stars to an election-weary electorate, it is an ideal time to exercise some wish-list thinking when it comes to criminal justice reform.

For all the bumps and bruises suffered by the ruling Conservatives at least one aspect of their message continues to garner broad popular support – ‘tough-on-crime’. With the outlier exception of legalizing marijuana, only the most suicidal politician would . . . [more]