With the first seven top-level domains going live on January 29th, and more new TLD domains becoming available each week throughout 2014, trade-mark holders may wish to grab some protection through ICANN’s Trademark Clearinghouse.

For $150/year per Trade-mark, the Clearinghouse will warn potential domain squatters that they are attempting to register a domain against an existing trade-mark.

What’s unique about this service is that they will do this for all the incoming new TLD domains, and I assume, make these warnings available through all the domain registrar companies.

One of the questions I’m frequently asked is, “Should . . . [more]

Listening to Roy Heenan give his spin on the demise of his law firm, I couldn’t help but hear the strains of Elton John’s “Funeral for a Friend” in my head.

It will be some time before the full back story of this debacle will be known. But in my view, Heenan Blaikie died from a combination of greed, poor management and failed leadership wrapped together in an antiquated business structure ill-suited to “more for less” client demands in a marketplace gradually filling with non-traditional competitors.

As I have said repeatedly, the Canadian legal profession is now entering the . . . [more]

I recently came across some cartoons about Supreme Court advocacy that I’d done up a number of years ago—and since The Friday Fillip is a bully pulpit of sorts, and since nothing out there has particularly caught my attention this week, I make so bold as to impose them on you. (Funny how the last one is no longer funny.)

All of which is respectfully inflicted…

. . . [more]

The traditional marketing mix – product (service), price, place, and promotion – is evolving as the mix is grows in complexity. Marketing is no longer static as online marketing continues to challenge traditional marketing. Conversations are happening through various channels and for this reason marketing needs to be more fluid than ever.

Some key trends influencing the legal marketing mix:

• Word of mouth: There was a time when networking at the country club or local chamber of commerce event could connect you with prospects and those prospects could quickly investigate your reputation This still works but also consider that social

. . . [more]

The January 2014 issue of Connected is now available online.

The bulletin covers news about the impact of social media on courts. Most of the items are about the United States, but there is occasional coverage of other jurisdictions.

The bulletin is published by the Virginia-based National Center for State Courts and the Conference of Court Public Information Officers.

In this issue:

• Florida judge removed from divorce case after sending litigant friend request
• Two new jury resources from Reynolds Courts and Media Law Journal: “Jury Instructions Cautioning Against Use of the Internet and Social Networking,” developed by The American College

. . . [more]

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]