I’m a Dr. Who fan. I make this admission (probably an admission against interest) freely and with some pleasure, because “science fiction” — whatever that term might mean — was my introduction to books, libraries and the ecstasy of reading and reading and reading. Of course, when I grew up I “put away childish things” — Mrs. Hill, my grade ten English teacher, said I had to — but not until I’d taken Theodore Sturgeon, Arthur Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Walter Miller, etc. etc. thoroughly on board. So no one was more pleased than I when the Beeb took . . . [more]

Upon reading one of today’s Slaw posts, How Technology Will Change the Practice of Law, it strikes me that many of the commentators place an extremely high value on technology as a driver of efficiency in legal work. In some cases, there’s almost a worship quality to their vision.

Don’t get me wrong, I think technology has a lot to offer. And admittedly, there is the occasional firm that is so backwards in its adoption that one can see how they are at a distinct disadvantage for not changing their ways. However, do we really believe that “technological efficiency” . . . [more]

The Law Society of Upper Canada has just now announced that Ryerson University and the University of Ottawa will provide the Society’s “Law Practice Program” of training for graduate JDs who choose not to, or are unable to, article. Ottawa will provide it in French and Ryerson in English. Unlike the University of Ottawa, Ryerson University has no law school.

As well, Ontario’s newest law school at Lakehead University will offer yet another alternative to articling, within its current JD program:

Additionally, the Law Society has approved another innovative option for fulfilling the experiential training component of its licensing requirements:

. . . [more]

“It’s hard to take law and technology seriously when they still have a typewriter at the courthouse – and a pen remains the judge’s weapon of choice.”

That statement from Ottawa lawyer Bryan Delaney neatly sums up the paradox faced when talk turns to incorporating new technology into legal services – some may be riding technology’s cutting edge, but other parts of the profession are still tootling around in granddad’s jalopy.

Tuesday night’s CBA Legal Futures Twitterchat, hosted by My Legal Briefcase founder Monica Goyal, featured participants representing a full range of practitioners, from traditional to tech-based. There seemed to . . . [more]

On November 13, 2013, Quebec’s Minister of Justice, Bertrand St-Arnaud, tabled Bill 61, An Act mainly to recover amounts paid unjustly by public bodies in relation to certain contracts in the construction industry in the national assembly. If enacted, Bill 61 would allow the minister of justice to seek compensation from businesses that defrauded public bodies or used fraudulent tactics or practices in the course of the tendering, awarding or management of public construction contracts, on behalf of all public bodies or government agencies.

In a stunning development, the Inquiry Committee charged with investigating the conduct of the Hon. Lori Douglas has resigned en masse (reasons here).

Associate Chief Justice Douglas was investigated by the Canadian Judicial Council in relation both to her conduct prior to her judicial appointment and to her disclosures during the appointment process. The Inquiry Committee was additionally charged with considering her conduct during the Canadian Judicial Council’s investigation, and in particular allegations that she interfered with the investigation.
The Inquiry Committee’s hearing has been fraught with problems. ACJ Douglas alleged that the Committee was biased, and after . . . [more]

You probably know that pro bono publico translates as “for the public good”. But you may not know that some justice system stakeholders view doing the public good as not much good at all. Generally lauded by judges and leaders of the profession, the long-term systemic value of pro bono legal service is a matter of limited but uneasy debate in the community of reformers, progressives and do-gooders dedicated to the concept of equal access to justice for everyone. Within that virtuous circle, not everyone is convinced of pro bono’s net benefit to the mission.

The typical knock against . . . [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.

The Existential Function of Interpretation in International Law
Duncan B. Hollis
SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2330642

(Footnotes omitted. They are available in the online version via the link above.)

Introduction

International law does not exist without interpretation. Consider the legality of using force to prevent further atrocities in Syria. Traditionally, international law precludes States from doing . . . [more]

Some exciting news today for fellow Hansard geeks:

https://twitter.com/LoPInformation/status/403177276843757568

The full digitized historical federal Hansard, Senate and House of Commons, is now available online, browsable and searchable. Canadiana.org’s Historical Debates of the Parliament of Canada portal was launched today: http://parl.canadiana.ca/

The project has been in development for some time. It complements the content that has been available on parl.gc.ca (House: 1994 onward; Senate: 1996 onward), to create a full collection of digital federal Hansard.

https://twitter.com/LoPInformation/status/402900381400719360

Full details about the portal and the search functions are here: http://parl.canadiana.ca/support/about. . . . [more]

The Canadian Mentorship Challenge is on this week as part of Global Entrepreneurship week. The challenge is for local organizations to mentor 10,000 entrepreneurs this week.

Here in London I spent some time yesterday at Hacker Studios talking to some people with budding business ideas. In addition to legal mentoring, advice is available on topics including accounting, sales, business planning, marketing, and human resources.

There are several groups in London that support an entrepreneur culture. What do other communities do?

A portion of my practice deals with startups and small business in the tech sector. To be frank, some . . . [more]

Legal Futures this week posted on the results of the third annual survey of what clients want from their legal service provider, conducted by legal technology service provider Peppermint Technology in the United Kingdom.

The post included two points that caught my eye. First, the survey found that clients are concerned about whether their legal advisor is able to provide online accessibility:

“There is now a significant body of businesspeople for whom online access has become a necessity of their working life,” the report said. “If their legal advisers are not perceived to be up to speed with this development,

. . . [more]

Yesterday Google Scholar Blog announced the launch of Google Scholar Library, a feature that allows a user to:

. . . save articles right from the search page, organize them by topic, and use the power of Scholar’s full-text search to quickly find just the one you want – at any time and from anywhere . . .

You’re able to use “labels” to organize the material you’ve saved to your library.

A user must log in to Google and via this link activate the Library feature.

This is clearly of potential benefit to the profession, because Scholar’s database includes . . . [more]