It takes a special kind of mind to love statistics, but only the wilfully obtuse ignore them.

Prior to the 2008 recession the statistics for the legal profession could borrow the Olympic Games’ motto – Faster, Higher, Stronger. Nearly five years later, higher numbers of law grads and rising fees are more problematic. Stronger? That’s a difficult question, and part of the impetus for the CBA Legal Futures Initiative. Phase I looked at the current state of the profession in an attempt to identify where the forces of change will take it so as to position Canada’s lawyers to flourish . . . [more]

The more interconnected the world becomes, the more people (businesses, governments) are exposed to harm generated online. “Cyberthreats”have become a leading source of worry for many knowledgeable people. The Internet is a dangerous place. Hacking that was once the domain of geeks wanting to show off their exploits is now big business, with division of labour (those who collect the information pass it on to those who use it) and serious resources. Tools for most forms of nastiness are readily available for sale at reasonable prices.

Crime has been joined by state and perhaps private espionage in the . . . [more]

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from forty-one recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Clicklaw Blog 2. Legal Feeds 3. Official Clio Blog 4. Michael Geist 5. Library Boy

Clicklaw Blog
AdminLawBC – Online Resource for Navigating Administrative Law

Are you preparing for a tough talk with your boss and want to get tips on negotiation tactics that will help the dialogue move . . . [more]

One of the most common inquiries around reputation management law that I receive is how a business, brand or professional can access the names and identities of people who use review sites to unfairly malign them.

This is a valid question because review sites are frequently being used for a variety of other purposes. For example, business competitors can try to capture larger market shares by making themselves look better, and personal vendettas can play themselves out through negative reviews anywhere a person’s name or their place of work is found online. The Terms of Service for most of these . . . [more]

On the second Sunday in each month we bring you a summary fromSupreme Advocacy LLP of recent decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Advocacy LLP offers a weekly electronic newsletter, SupremeAdvocacyLett@r, to which you may subscribe.

Summary of all appeals and leaves to appeal granted (so you know what the S.C.C. will soon be dealing with). For leaves, both the date the S.C.C. granted leave and the date of the C.A. judgment below are added in, in case you want to track and check out the C.A. judgment. (April 11 – May 8, 2013).

ORAL JUDGMENTS . . . [more]

Summaries of selected recent cases are provided each week to Slaw byMaritime Law Book. Every Sunday we present a precis of the latest summaries, a fuller version of which can be found on MLB-Slaw Selected Case Summaries at cases.slaw.ca.

This week’s summaries concern:
Civil Rights / Criminal Law / Trademarks, Names and Designs / Income Tax / Admiralty / Municipal Law:

Jordan Furlong published another great column recently about how the word the word “disruption” is being used to describe many changes in legal practice and technology. He points out that the word is most often used to describe legal process innovation. The comment boards lit up with discussion of what may or may not be disruptive. I agree with Jordan and other commenters that improving legal process or process innovation is not really disruptive. Examples of legal process innovation abound, but they mostly just introduce efficiencies into practice (for example, by standardizing steps in common procedures). On the other hand, . . . [more]

I billed 2,400 hours last year because I have the perfect work-life balance.

Since its adoption into mainstream North American vocabulary in 1986, the term “work-life balance” has caused hypertension in and the impression of decreased work-ethic by senior lawyers and firm managers. Its use by an applicant in an interview is usually fatal. Yet firms spend thousands of hours and dollars seeking the Holy Grail for law firm management: equilibrium between “work-life balance” and business interests. Why? Because “work-life balance” equates to associate retention.

With all the focus on work-life balance, why have so few managed to achieve the . . . [more]

Microsoft has done some good things. Even as an Apple fan boy I can say that. One such Good Thing is Slate magazine, founded in 1996 (and a strong influence in my naming of Slaw, as it happens) under the auspices of Microsoft’s MSN. In 2004 Slate passed into the hands of the Washington Post, under whose umbrella it still shelters today. But even a simple encomium to this news and popular culture magazine would be too . . . earnest, perhaps, for a Friday fillip. So it’s to Slate’s Vault that I want to point you today.

The Vault, . . . [more]

Do you know of any means by which prosecutorial documents – like a notice of compliance or notice of laying of charges – can be delivered electronically? If a regulator, for example, wanted to require one of its regulated bodies to appear at a hearing, how can it ensure that the addressee has received the notice?

The regulator would have an email address of the regulated body, but assume that there is no contract or statute that allows for ‘originating process’ to be presumed to be delivered if delivered electronically.

I am aware that the Rules of Civil Procedure allow . . . [more]

One of the big themes running through many of the workshops at this week’s CALL conference in Montreal was the redesign of products, platforms and processes. The conference ended yesterday.

The Monday session entitled “Please Don’t Make Me Think: User Testing a Faceted Search Engine” was about how the Centre d’accès à l’information juridique (CAIJ), Quebec’s Courthouse Library Network, conducts user testing sessions to validate the ergonomic and design aspects of many of its tools, including its new faceted search engine JuriBistro UNIK.

I served as a guinea pig at the session. I volunteered to go up on stage . . . [more]

The Law Society of Upper Canada (“LSUC”) held its annual general meeting last night. The meeting garnered more attention than it otherwise might have due to the mysterious last minute pulling of a motion that was received on March 28, 2013. This motion dealt with a study to enlarge the paralegal scope of practice. You can read the motion here.

There has not yet been an explanation behind the pulling of this motion–a motion that was proposed well in advance of the meeting.

So we are left to speculate.

It has never made any sense to me as to . . . [more]