This is a slightly more niche tip, but if you’re ever asked to find a a user manual, the Internet Archive has you covered. The Internet Archive Manual Library is “a collection of manuals, instructions, walkthroughs and datasheets for a massive spectrum of items. Manuals covering electronic and mechanical products, instructions on mixing or blending items, and instruction sets for software and computer items are all included.”

If you can’t find the user manual you need there, you can also search for user manuals at http://www.manualsonline.com/search.html and https://www.manualslib.com/. 

— Susannah Tredwell . . . [more]

A Bill recently introduced to Ontario’s Legislature can tangibly relieve the crisis of access to justice and politicization in the province’s tribunals, and blaze a path to better appointments for adjudicators and judges across the country. The Fewer Backlogs and Less Partisan Tribunals Act was introduced by Liberal MPP Ted Hsu, and will be debated in the Ontario Legislature on April 18th.

Ontario’s high-volume tribunals — especially the Landlord & Tenant Board, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and the Automobile Accident Benefits Service — have been afflicted by dire access to justice problems in recent years. The root cause . . . [more]

AI – the discussion points keep coming!

I just spent about 15 minutes of my day stripping my face off the internet!
That includes asking Google and Edge to remove cached images of my face.

Why the heck would I do that?

Here’s why:

Taryn Plumb, “Face Off: Attackers are Stealing Biometrics to Access Victims’ Bank Accounts” (February 21, 2024).

“…cybersecurity company Group-IB has discovered the first banking trojan that steals people’s faces. Unsuspecting users are tricked into giving up personal IDs and phone numbers and are prompted to perform face scans. These images are then swapped out with AI-generated . . . [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.

CONSTITUTIONNEL (DROIT) : Le tribunal rejette une demande de sursis de l’application de l’article 10 de la Loi modifiant la Loi concernant les soins de fin de vie et d’autres dispositions législatives, lequel a pour effet d’empêcher les maisons de soins palliatifs d’exclure l’aide médicale à mourir de leur . . . [more]

Afflicted with a “culture of complacency[1],” the Ontario Superior Court has long struggled to timely advance cases to trial. Variously described by its leading jurists as ‘broken[2]’ and ‘antiquated[3],’ it has fallen further into disrepute as gun cases[4], a sexual assault case[5] (and another[6] and another[7]) and human trafficking[8] cases have been thrown out due to “excessive delay.” This continues the sordid state of affairs that existed prior to the pandemic, where hundreds of criminal cases were being dismissed annually for delay[9]. . . . [more]

Written by Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD, Content Editor, First Reference Inc.

In December 2023, the Vice-Chairperson of the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board (Board) confirmed that the employer discriminated against an employee when the employer terminated his employment following an injury. The Board also concluded that the employer bullied, harassed and belittled the employee. Consequently, the Board awarded $10,000 as general damages, which included damages for injury to the employee’s dignity, feelings, self-respect and self-worth. Further, the employer was required to participate in a one-day human rights training course on the duty to accommodate. . . . [more]

A recent decision of the Federal Court endorsing the position of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office is a warning to patent practitioners on communication practices with their clients. In determining whether there had been sufficient ‘due care’, it found that more was needed than sending email reminders where no responses had been received from the client.

In Taillefer v. Canada (Attorney General), 2024 FC 259, the Federal Court considered the ‘due care’ provisions of the Patent Act for the first since they are implemented in 2019. These provisions allow an applicant to reinstate a patent or patent application . . . [more]

Last semester, with increasing agitation in the media about AI’s potential impact on the legal profession, I decided to wade in and show my students a little AI in my law school classroom. The course is Advanced Legal Research.

The Experiment

I gathered up a list of interesting readings on the topic of AI and the legal profession. Many of them pointed to horror stories or emerging policies and guidelines in the area. Later I decided to record my findings in my AI Regulation LibGuide.

I made all of this available in an optional readings folder.

AI Panel Weighs

You are in the middle of another busy day of legal practice when your star associate pops their head in your office. “Can I speak to you for a moment?” “Sure,” you say. The next thing you know, the associate is telling you they are resigning from their position and will be gone in four weeks.

This is the reality of the workplace; good associates and staff members move on. Why do people leave? Most often, it is to make a career move that better aligns with their goals. Sometimes, it is also about money. Or it can be because . . . [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.

CONSTITUTIONNEL (DROIT) : La Loi sur la laïcité de l’État est valide au regard du partage constitutionnel des compétences déterminé par la Loi constitutionnelle de 1867; elle ne contrevient ni aux principes non écrits de la Constitution canadienne, ni à l’architecture de celle-ci, ni à quelque loi ou principe . . . [more]