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. Berry et al v. Pulley et al, 2013 CanLII 54779 (ON SC)
   

   [1] This action was commenced in 1997, certified as a class proceeding in 2001, and tried in 2011. The Plaintiff class consisted of 171 Air Ontario pilots, five of whom were appointed as representative Plaintiffs. The Defendant class consisted of approximately 1,617 Air Canada pilots. The Plaintiffs alleged that members of

The Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on the Status and Future of Canada’s Libraries and Archives sent a notice about consultations on the value Canadians place on libraries and archives.

The panel’s mandate is:

1.To investigate what services Canadians, including Aboriginal Canadians and new Canadians, are currently receiving from libraries and archives.
2.To explore what Canadian society expects of libraries and archives in the 21st century.
3.To identify the necessary changes in resources, structures, and competencies to ensure libraries and archives serve the Canadian public good in the 21st century.
4.To listen to and consult the multiple voices that

Is there something women know about health and fitness that us guys don’t? I’m referring to the fact that for every running and racing walking event I enter, there are always more women than men. Sometimes a lot more.

At last summer’s inaugural Lululemon-sponsored “Sea Wheeze Half Marathon” in Vancouver, over 80% of the 5,900 participants were women. You might say “No kidding, what guy wants to go in a race sponsored by Lululemon?”

But the Lululemon half marathon is just the tip of a North American, if not a world-wide, phenomenon that has seen an explosive increase in the . . . [more]

On the website concerning the Québec Charter of Values you’ll find a statement from the minister, Bernard Drainville, and, if you follow the arrows at the bottom of each screen, the desideratum of “clear rules for everyone“, an “affirmation of Québec values” (“By affirming these values, we are proposing to build a strong Québec identity, whether one was born here or elsewhere.”), the principle of state neutrality, and, last, “five proposals” the government is making. One of these is the one that’s received most attention in the press: to “limit the wearing . . . [more]

September 10, 2013 is World Suicide Prevention Day

It only took one day for the Ohio prisons director, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, to launch two separate reviews into the suicide of Ariel Castro, the Cleveland kidnapper who was sentenced last month to life in prison, plus 1,000 years, for crimes relating to the kidnapping and sequestration of three women over the course of a decade. Castro had been taken off suicide watch during his trial, after authorities determined he was no longer at risk of taking his own life. While public opinion was far . . . [more]

The Seventeenth Annual Canadian Information Technology Law Association (“IT.CAN”) Conference will be held in Toronto, October 24-25, 2013. The full conference brochure is available on the IT.CAN website, and registration is possible online in English and en français. The brochure contains details concerning CPD and CLE credits available.

As usual, the speakers’ list is a who’s-who of experts in IT law and includes a number of lawyers who write or have written for Slaw, namely: Daniel Logan, James Kosa, Andrew Terrett, Richard Austin, John Gregory, and David Canton.

If you have any questions about the program please contact Lisa . . . [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

Check Your Credit Report to Combat Identity Theft
Dan Pinnington

All of us should check our credit report on an annual basis. Not only is this a good idea to cheto to make sure there are no mistakes on your credit record, it can also protect you against identity theft. If someone has stolen your identity, the transactions they have completed can tip you off that your identity has . . . [more]

Only rarely do patent cases proceed to trial and even more rarely are contested judgments on remedies issued. A recent Federal Court decision on damages considered whether non-infringing alternatives to the defendant’s infringing activities should be considered.

In most patent cases, the quantification of damages are bifurcated, or deferred until after a trial decision on validity and infringement. Only if the patent is found valid and infringed, will the remedies need to be considered. Unfortunately, for those interested in following decisions on patent remedies, in most cases the patents are found invalid, not infringed or a settlement is reached prior . . . [more]

Justice Pardu has quashed the decision of Arbitrator E.E. Palmer, and as a result (former) Hamilton Tiger Cats’ wide receiver Chris Williams is free to explore greener pastures in the NFL.

Williams had been under a two year contract with the Tiger Cats which contained a team option for a third year. The Tiger Cats had attempted to exercise the third year option and Williams tried to get out of the contract in order to explore potential options in the NFL, where he would earn significantly more money.

The Canadian Football League Players’ Association (who brought the case on . . . [more]

In the September 2010 issue of LAWPRO Magazine, we asked our claims counsel about what they feel are the biggest malpractice hazards in each area of law based on the claims files they work on every day. Here is an excerpt from that article that discusses the risks that can arise when dealing with elderly clients. Click here to read the full article “Practice Pitfalls”.

Changing demographics are leaving their mark on trends that concern LAWPRO counsel: We are seeing increased potential for claims surrounding issues of the capacity of elderly clients and undue influence. The increased number of elderly . . . [more]

U.S. lawyer Stephanie Kimbro who writes about running virtual law practices shared an infographic she created last week with everyone — Technology in Legal Education (excerpt of the image below). It essentially shows why there is a need to teach law students and lawyers about technology, how the technology has been a “disruptive” force in the industry and its effect.

I especially like her outline of new roles people are playing in law firms today.

This is just an excerpt of her infographic. For the full graphic, visit her website Virtual Law Practice.

Hat tip ABA LTRC on Twitter. . . . [more]

Last week’s revelations that the NSA may be able to decrypt most of the traffic on the internet sent shockwaves through the global community. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption was thought to provide a secure and virtually impenetrable “tunnel” for sensitive internet traffic, such as credit card data or confidential client documents; the NSA, however, has reportedly circumvented the security of SSL connections through a combination of brute-strength computing power and a network of “back doors” inserted into the equipment and algorithms that provide SSL security.

These code-breaking capabilities have left many users of cloud-based services asking if traffic they . . . [more]