Yesterday morning, thousands of third-year law students across Ontario each received invoices totalling $4,859 for the articling licensing process (an increase of 79% from last year’s fee of $2,712). I was one of the lucky ones; after having a brief panic attack, I was able to forward the invoices to the law firm at which I will be articling to have them paid off. But for many, the fees present yet another barrier to entry into an already restrictive profession.

The increased fees, of course, restrict fair access to the legal profession – many students are forced to take out . . . [more]

In recognition of Black History Month, I like to dedicate one blog post in February to a black person in the legal realm whose achievements deserve acknowledgement. This year, I selected Leonard Austin Braithwaite.

Following up on Omar’s recent post on an impending announcement from Heenan Blaikie regarding its future, the firm announced last night that it was winding up operations. This announcement has sent sent proverbial shockwaves through the legal community. It’s also made front-page headlines in many major newspaper across the country – something I haven’t seen before.

The Globe & Mail released an article last night and followed up with print articles this morning:

The firm said in a release late on Wednesday that an “orderly wind-up” will span several months and make it possible to “ensure a harmonious transfer” of

. . . [more]

Arbitrator independence and fairness are the cornerstones of arbitration. They seem to be coming under greater scrutiny, both in Canada and abroad.

There are many sources of bias in any adjudication system, whether it is court or arbitration. (This may be a topic for another column, but see for example arbitrator Edna Sussman’s paper, “Arbitrator Decision Making: Unconscious Psychological Influences and What You Can Do About Them,” December 20, 2013, American Review of International Arbitration, Vol., No. 3, 2013 available online here.)

The accepted test for arbitrator bias in Canada was established by the Supreme Court of . . . [more]

Each Thursday we present a significant excerpt, usually from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

Visualizing the law: Crisis mapping as an open tool for legal practice
Marta Poblet
Journal of Open Access to Law Vol 1, No 1 (2013)

(This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. This work, as excerpted, has not been altered.)

Excerpt pp. 3-6

2. Maps as Interfaces: Visualizing . . . [more]

Phoenix Victoria Hope Sinclair was born in Winnipeg on April 23, 2000. She was apprehended by child welfare authorities at birth, and spent her life in and out of the care of her parents. She died at Fisher River on June 11, 2005 but her death was not discovered until the winter of 2006. Her mother and her mother’s partner were charged and convicted of first-degree murder and are serving life sentences.

In March 2011, an inquiry was called under The Manitoba Evidence Act to look into:

• the child welfare services provided or not provided to Phoenix and her

. . . [more]

CRTC and Industry Canada representatives provided some insight into their thoughts on CASL (the new anti-spam law that kicks in July 1) in an IT-Can forum on Monday.

To come under the complex CASL rules, the email must be a “commercial electronic message” or CEM. It does not take much to cross that threshold. An example of a law firm emailing details about a new court decision was discussed. If a pure case summary was part of or attached to an email (eg The Supreme Court of Canada today released a decision that decided…), and the email had a standard . . . [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. Rochon v. MacDonald 2014 ONSC 591
   

   [7] It is important to distinguish between liability for the accident and liability to pay a judgment. The apportionment of liability is one of the factors that the court should consider in exercising discretion under section 131 of the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.C-43 (see Rule 57.01). The practical obligation to pay a judgment is

. . . [more]

Unless you’ve been hibernating, you know that support for Windows XP SP3 will end on April 8, 2014. This means that Microsoft will not be providing any security updates after that date. Should you care and quickly run out and purchase an upgraded operating system? Many critics are claiming that Microsoft is stopping support in order to increase sales of the more current operating system software. Others are predicting that the sky will fall as hackers are just waiting to release their latest malware right after April 8^th. We believe that there will be attempts to compromise Windows . . . [more]

I was surprised to receive a factum last week that omitted an overview statement. Most people now include an overview statement even though some Rules of Court do not expressly require one.

The overview statement is the most important part of any factum. Its purpose is to explain what the case is really about. Too short, or not enough context, and the first opportunity to persuade is lost. Too long, or not sufficiently focused, and the reader is left confused rather than primed to understand the subsequent argument.

When I am drafting a factum (or even a letter, or a . . . [more]

The LegalTech Day One Keynote with Jason Thomas of Thomson Reuters was intriguingly titled “TOR, Bitcoin, Silk Road and the Anonymous Web: Drugs, Bombs and Murder-for-Hire”. If that wasn’t enough to bring me into a crowded conference room filled with legal technology types, there was also tasty coffee.

All kidding aside, Mr. Thomas’s presentation was a great start to the 34th annual ALM Legal Technology show. Jason Thomas is the Chief Innovator at Thomson Reuters.

Jason started his session with a William Gibson quote: “The future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.”

He asked the crowd to raise . . . [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

Put the Sun Behind You for Better Outdoor Pics With Your Mobile Phone
Dan Pinnington

Unfortunately, the camera on your mobile phone – and even your more expensive DSLR camera – just don’t see things well quite as well as your eyes do. So, what can you do to get better outdoor pictures? Getting more light on your subject by making sure the sun is behind you will greatly . . . [more]