The Quebec Bar Association and bencher-elect Lu Chan Khuong have released a joint statement, indicating that Khuong has decided to resign her position and duties. The joint press release, dated Tuesday, September 15, 2015, announces a settlement agreement of the legal action opposing the board of directors of the Bar Association and Khuong. . . . [more]

The Superior Court of Ontario has recently held that an Israeli newspaper should face a defamation action in Ontario on behalf of an Ontario resident, since the newpaper’s website was read in Ontario. Goldhar v Haaretz.com.

The Court made short work of the ‘jurisdiction simpliciter’ argument, based on SCC decisions, and not much longer work, it would appear, of the forum conveniens arguments. It did order that the costs to bring the Israeli witnesses to Canada should be paid by the plaintiff.

Are these cases now routine? Is there any realistic chance for a defendant to avoid a trial . . . [more]

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation has released their analysis of how privacy advocates trigger waves of public fear about new technologies in a recurring “privacy panic cycle.”

The report is an interesting read and makes some valid points. In general, people fear new things more so than things we are familiar with. Like the person who doesn’t fly much being nervous about the flight when statistically the most dangerous part of the journey is the drive to the airport.

While a privacy panic for emerging tech is indeed common, we can’t summarily dismiss that panic as having no basis. . . . [more]

Dealing with mental health issues like depression, stress and anxiety is fraught with age-old taboos, stigmas and obstacles to openness – and none of it gets any easier when your job is to be the calm voice of logic and reason in an argument. It might make good business sense to keep your concerns to yourself, but ignoring the issue – for example, depression, anxiety or stress – won’t make it go away.

They say acknowledging you have a problem is the first step to recovery, but how do you know whether you have the kind of problem that needs . . . [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. Craig, 2009 SCC 23, [2009] 1 SCR 762

[1] Abella J. — The issue in this appeal is how to apply the forfeiture provisions for offence-related real property under ss. 16(1) and 19.1(3) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, S.C. 1996, c. 19.* Two interpretive approaches are possible. Neither is free from difficulty, but one is, it seems . . . [more]

The former owner of an auto body shop in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia was recently charged with criminal negligence causing death under federal Bill C-45, colloquially known as the “Westray Bill.” The charges relate to a 2013 workplace accident where a car caught fire causing the death of a 58-year-old mechanic. This is the first charge under the Westray Bill against a Nova Scotia employer.

The Westray Bill was passed in 2004 and amended the Criminal Code to impose criminal liability on employers who fail to ensure the safety of their workers. The Westray Bill was created in the wake of . . . [more]

I challenge international law scholars to write about the unpopular, the weird, the old, the outside, the unexpected, the obscurities buried in ancient tombs, and the unsafe topics that do not make headline news. – -Lyonette Louis-Jacques, 1 CJIL 108 (2000).

The very first issue of the Chicago Journal of International Law featured articles on “What’s Wrong with International Law Scholarship?”. In my piece therein on “Gaps in International Legal Literature,” I bemoaned the prevalence of the expected and the mainstream and challenged scholars to look for difference, to leave the beaten path, and find gaps that can . . . [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 technology, research and practice.

Research

Understand the Why
Shaunna Mireau

Today’s short legal research tip is this: You will find better answers to questions if you know Why you are asking them in the first place. Understanding the motivation for an answer that is hidden behind a question helps reveal biases, suppositions, assumptions and missing inputs that, if misunderstood, lead to incomplete, incorrect, and inefficiently gathered results. …

Technology

Use the Desktop*
Dan Pinnington . . . [more]

At this time of year, many firms are welcoming articling students into their offices.

While it’s easy to view these students as a source of extra help, the primary purpose of articling is to provide a valuable apprenticeship to the student, not simply to lighten the lawyer’s load. Today’s law school curriculum has a strongly theoretical focus. Students spend a great deal of time learning to research the law and to “think like lawyers”, and limited time learning about how to operate a law practice.

That’s where articling comes in. As an articling principal, you are charged with teaching students . . . [more]

Introduction

In my June column, I outlined one of the papers from the Second National Symposium on Experiential Education in Law, which took place at Elon University in Greensboro, North Carolina in June 2014. The Alliance for Experiential Learning in Law and Elon University School of Law hosted the symposium.

This column will focus on Part V of the papers from the symposium, Creative Initiatives at US Law Schools (all the papers may be found at http://ow.ly/O8YQJ). The US, with its large number of law schools, has the advantage of scale to allow its schools to act as . . . [more]

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from sixty 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. ABlawg.ca  2. À bon droit  3. Legal Post  4. National Blog  5. Library Boy

ABlawg.ca
Litigating Death in Care Cases in Alberta

More than 775 children with some involvement with child protective services in Alberta have died since 1999. This past year alone, approximately 31 children have died while . . . [more]

If you haven’t noticed by now, there’s a Federal election going on. How and where to Canadian lawyers fit into this equation?

A new study in the Journal of Legal Analysis examines the political leanings of American lawyers by using the Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and Elections (DIME) to track the financial contributions of lawyers to political campaigns. The contributions were then matched using an algorithm to lawyers listed in the Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory. The result was a “CFscore” to identify the political leanings of the contributor, who could be identified based on their position the legal system. . . . [more]