In 2011, Borys Wrzesnewskyj, the former Liberal Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre, lost his seat to Conservative candidate Ted Opitz by a mere 26 votes. Convinced that procedural irregularities on Election Day had robbed him of victory, Wreznewskyj challenged the result in court.[1]

The case reached the Supreme Court of Canada.[2] Wrzesnewskyj lost.

“The right of every citizen to vote, guaranteed by [Section Three] of the Charter, lies at the heart of Canadian democracy,” wrote Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein and Mr. Justice Michael Moldaver, for a majority of the Court.[3] As a consequence, the . . . [more]

I suspect we will all be talking about Heenan Blaikie for a while, on Slaw and elsewhere.

Both Mitch and Gabriel have weighed in on this some more already, so I’d like to add here to my previous post on the subject and my brief interview with Drew Hasselback in the Legal Post.

Much of the commentary has tried to figure out what went “wrong.” Hasselback’s most recent article suggests that it was not strictly financial,

Just a month ago, things were looking good. Billings had hit a near-record $35-million for the month of December. And the full-year financial

. . . [more]

It seems to me that we’ve been in something of lull so far as IT development is concerned. Perhaps I’m just imagining it because I welcome the break from continual novelty and the learning it invites. However, I’ve recently made note of four developments of possible interest to Slaw readers, and I thought I’d pass them on now. None, I think, is begging to be incorporated into your firm’s canon of essential apps. Indeed, none is likely of direct application to your work. But it’s from such trial efforts that tomorrow’s killer app may emerge, and, more important perhaps, one . . . [more]

À la lumière du test de Wigmore, il y a lieu de reconnaître le privilège de confidentialité existant entre le chercheur et le participant à la recherche en ce qui a trait à une entrevue de l'accusé réalisée dans le cours d'un projet de recherche quelques années avant l'inculpation de ce dernier pour meurtre au premier degré.

This week's summaries concern: Warrantless search and seizure / Class actions and standing :

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.