Problems with lawyer-client communication are the number-one cause of claims reported to LAWPRO. The way to prevent these claims sounds simple enough: Remind lawyers to communicate better with their clients.

However, appeals to “communicate better” can seem vague − or even a little “touchy-feely”. Need specifics? Consider the following list of practical strategies. These ten tips were chosen from Tim Lemieux’s article “Is anyone listening? Preventing communications claims” which appeared in the Fall 2011 issue of LAWPRO Magazine.

To communicate better:

1. Meet with the client yourself (don’t just rely on a clerk’s intake meeting notes).
2. Remember that the

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There’s a new resource that aims to assist Ontario law students with issues relating to “stress, anxiety, and other wellness and mental health concerns.” JustBalance, which received funding from the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges & Universities, was developed by the Osgoode Hall Law School in collaboration with law faculties at the University of Toronto, University of Ottawa (Common Law Section), University of Windsor, Queen’s University, Western University and Lakehead University.

Melanie Banka Goela, Osgoode’s Student Success and Wellness Counsellor, led this initiative which began with a survey of law students who were asked what they might . . . [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. U of A Faculty Law Blog  2. The Law of Work 3. Off the Shelf  4. Youth and Work  5. Henry J. Chang’s Canada-US Immigration Blog

U of A Faculty Law Blog
Dominatrix dominates Senate

I had the pleasure of testifying at the Senate last year on a mundane . . . [more]

Last month, Home Depot announced they would start selling 3D printers in some of their stores. This seems like the next step in the consumerization of technology that began as exclusively for high end users such as automotive manufacturers and architects but is now becoming useable for almost anyone. Even the Toronto Public Library has 3D printers “even for beginners to use.” What effect will the increasing use of 3D printing technology by consumers have on intellectual property and what effect will intellectual property have on the technology?

3D printing is generally a term for additive printing where material is . . . [more]

At the Opening of the Courts this week in Ontario, Justice Strathy, the new Chief Justice for the Province, gave a speech which highlighted how the court system is largely inaccessible to the majority of the public, largely due to the cost, complexity and time involved.

He made particular reference to his experience in the Ontario courts as a need for reform:

Having been a lawyer and a judge in this province for over 40 years, it strikes me that we have built a legal system that has become increasingly burdened by its own procedures, reaching a point that we

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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.

RECOURS COLLECTIF : Le recours collectif intenté au nom des personnes ayant subi des dommages à la suite des inondations causées par le débordement de la rivière Richelieu au printemps 2011 n’est pas autorisé contre les deux paliers de gouvernement.

Intitulé : Dupuis c. Canada (Procureur général), 2014 QCCS 3997 . . . [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, SupremeAdvocacyLett@r, 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). (Aug 14 – Sept. 11, 2014 inclusive).

LEAVES TO APPEAL GRANTED

Intellectual Property: Licences
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation v. Sodrac 2003 Inc., et al., 2014 FCA 84
What is the appropriate tariff here. . . . [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:
Aliens/ Civil Rights / Constitutional Law / Criminal Law / Narcotic Control / Landlord and Tenant

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I get a really rather shameful pulse of pride when some organization releases a ranking of nations along one scale or another, showing Canada at or near the top. Shameful, for one thing, because comparisons, even at the level of nation states, are odious (and perhaps also “oderous” as Shakespeare joked). And for another thing because they’re typically based on a combination of loose judgements that would baffle even an expert in Bayseian theory.

Most recently, the OECD has published a Regional Well-Being website:

This interactive site allows you to measure well-being in your region and compare it with 300

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My columns are largely about international trends and innovation around justice delivery at the national level. But I am an international lawyer. On holiday in Tuscany I am able to digest (as opposed to take in) the news about the tsunami of peace & security crises the world is now facing: Russia, Ukraine and the tragedy of MH17, the Israel-Gaza war, the war in Syria, and the conquests by ISIS. A propos: we have an economic and global-warming crisis as well. All this has me deeply worried about the very idea of international law.

Mark Mazower’s impressive book Governing the . . . [more]

The Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) is organizing a live “tweet chat” on Thursday, September 25 with Fred Headon, Past-President of the Canadian Bar Association and Chair of the CBA Legal Futures Initiative.

The live chat on Twitter will take place from 12 to 1PM EST and the topic will be “Does the CBA Futures Report provide opportunities for law librarians? ”

The CALL website has details on how interested law librarians (and others) can join the chat.

People can read more about the CBA Legal Futures Initiative on the CBA Futures website.

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Technologies are finally infiltrating the Quebec judiciary. These technologies are mean to improve the judicial system and public access to justice.