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]

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 (August 12 – September 10, 2015 inclusive).

Appeals

Civil Procedure/Torts/Environmental: Jurisdiction; Foreign Judgments

Chevron Corp. v. Yaiguaje, 2015 SCC 42 (SCC 35682)
In actions to recognize and enforce foreign judgments where the foreign court validly assumed jurisdiction, there is . . . [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:
Administrative Law – Civil Rights – Elections – Bankruptcy – Indians, Inuit and Métis

Trinity Western University et al. v. Law Society of Upper Canada et al. 2015 ONSC 4250
Administrative Law – Barristers and Solicitors – Civil Rights – Education
Summary: The Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) Benchers voted to deny accreditation . . . [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.

PROFESSIONS : La bâtonnière Lu Chan Khuong ne pourra réintégrer ses fonctions à la tête de l’Ordre professionnel des avocats du Québec dans l’attente du jugement final au fond.

Intitulé : Khuong c. Asselin, 2015 QCCS 3937
Juridiction : Cour supérieure (C.S.), 200-05-020080-151
Décision de : Juge Michel Beaupré
Date . . . [more]

This is Part 3 in a series looking at the requirements related to “service animals” under the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, Ontario Regulation 429/07 (the “Standards”) of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (the “Act”). Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.

For organizations that are subject to the Standards, service animals must be allowed to enter the premises unless “otherwise excluded by law.” The Ministry of Economic Development, Employment & Infrastructure website specifically identifies regulations under the Health Promotion Act and the Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001, respectively, as two examples of . . . [more]

For the next while the Friday Fillip will be a chapter in a serialized crime novel, usually followed by a reference you might like to pursue. Both this chapter of the book and the whole story up to this point can be had as PDF files. You may also subscribe to have chapters delivered to you by email.

MEASURING LIFE
 
Chapter 28
Keep Calm and Carillon