A new study into legal needs has recently been released (hat tip to Richard Zorza for his blog post on the report.) Accessing Justice in the Contemporary USA: Findings from the Community Needs and Services Study (conducted by the American Bar Foundation and Rebecca Sandefur) was released August 8 at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in Boston.

The research findings include:

• 66% of those surveyed reported experiencing one or more civil justice situations involving money, debt, rented and owned housing, insurance, employment, government benefits, children’s education, clinical negligence, personal injury, and relationship breakdown and its aftermath in

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. Sattva Capital Corp. v. Creston Moly Corp., 2014 SCC 53

Appeals from commercial arbitration decisions are narrowly circumscribed under the Arbitration Act. Under s. 31(1), they are limited to questions of law, and leave to appeal is required if the parties do not consent to the appeal. Section 31(2)(a) sets out the requirements for leave at issue in the present case: . . . [more]

You’ve probably heard about the T-shaped lawyer. The origin of the term was the “T-shaped person” – a reference which first appeared in a 1991 London newspaper article on the subject of computing jobs. The premise is that a T-shaped person has a depth of knowledge in one discipline (this is the vertical stroke of the T) as well as a breadth of knowledge across multiple disciplines that allows for collaboration and innovation (the horizontal stroke of the T).

C-suite executives talk with enthusiasm about seeking T-shaped employees who can successfully collaborate and innovate with our rapidly changing times.

As . . . [more]

First, let me say that I am not looking for a job. I have a fantastic, challenging and new job for my employer that is keeping me alert and happy, thank you very much. Now that is out of the way, let me share a job advertisement that landed in my inbox.

Posting Details
Job Work Location:US
Position Title:
Data Curator
Compensation Grade:Band 52T
Posting Date:07-28-2014
Posting Number:20096847
SupOrg – Division Equivalent:US1016 – CUSP
FT/PT: FT
Unit Specific Text:

Position Summary:
The Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) at New York University seeks a

It is unlikely that when Canadian rockers Headstones released the song “When Something Stands for Nothing” in 1993 that they did so as a political comment on the continuing relevance of the Magna Carta to the laws of the United Kingdom and her colonies. So I may have been in alone in thinking of this song when reading a David Allen Green blog post on the Financial Times site entitled “The myth of the Magna Carta”. Mr. Green (lawyer, blogger, author and popular legal Twitterer under the handle @JackofKent) describes the most referenced of the three . . . [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.

Technology

Go for a Fresh Start With a Device Reboot*
Dan Pinnington

Smartphones, tablets, laptops and computers are more reliable and stable than ever before. Most of us take this for granted and we leave our devices turned on 24/7. owever, that doesn’t mean you should never “reboot” your device (i.e., turn the device right off and restart it). In fact, a regular reboot can be helpful. Many programs and . . . [more]

The families of two individuals who were killed in a June, 2012 shooting inside the Eaton Centre Mall in Toronto have sued the owner of the mall and the Toronto and Hamilton Police Departments, among others.

The claims total nearly $4 million dollars combined. The thrust of the claims is that the various defendants were responsible in different ways for failing to prevent the shooting. A news story about the claims, and the shooting, can be found here.

  . . . [more]

As a lawyer, you have likely been trained to maintain a laser focus on your client’s interests and how to express and defend them. Being a fierce advocate is usually a good thing.

But when preparing a will for a client, it can be a useful exercise, once you have a good first draft, to intentionally play devil’s advocate.

At the Law Society of Upper Canada Solo and Small Firm Practice Conference in June 2014, estates lawyer Lisa Barazzutti suggested that when reviewing a newly-drafted will, it’s useful to read the will from the perspective of the beneficiaries. “Ask yourself,” . . . [more]

Tina Gheen, Emerging Technologies Librarian at the Library of Congress, blogged about the Indigenous Law Portal introduced as part of the “A Dialog for Catalogers and Reference Librarians: Class K from Alpha to Omega” program at the recent American Association of Law Libraries annual meeting in San Antonio. Gheen, Jennifer Gonzalez, and Jolande Goldberg spoke about this new online resource “created to make tribal law more accessible and findable by providing a comprehensive listing of tribes, tribal websites, and online primary source materials.”

The Portal uses the structure of the new Library of Congress Classification . . . [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. Canadian Securities Law 2. First Reference Talks 3. Clio Blog 4. “AvoidAClaim” Blog 5. National Magazine Blog

Canadian Securities Law
Use of automatic plans to facilitate trading by company executives

Under Canadian securities laws, insiders of public companies such as officers and directors are generally restricted from trading in . . . [more]

The challenge for many women lawyers in the “Lean In” age is to lean in without falling over. This means developing sufficient resiliency to manage demanding clients in an increasingly competitive world while also managing family and personal responsibilities. Resiliency is a key leadership skill. However, women often need to approach resiliency differently than men.

While both women and men need to exercise, get sufficient sleep, and eat well, women often need to pay attention to three other important elements to gain sufficient energy to lead demanding lives as lawyers.

Firstly, women must give themselves permission to take time for . . . [more]

Is saying no to technology even an option for lawyers in modern practice? The Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s Model Code of Professional Content defines competence as follows:

3.1-1 1 “Competent lawyer” means a lawyer who has and applies relevant knowledge, skills and attributes in a manner appropriate to each matter undertaken on behalf of a client and the nature and terms of the lawyer’s engagement, including:
…
(j) pursuing appropriate professional development to maintain and enhance legal knowledge and skills; and (k) otherwise adapting to changing professional requirements, standards, techniques and practices.

If lawyers do not have certain . . . [more]